Journal of Rural Studies最新文献

{"title":"Learning from the past and embracing future opportunities: Perceptions of new Environmental Land Management Schemes and private nature markets","authors":"K. Dewally,&nbsp;R.H. Bark,&nbsp;A.R. Harwood,&nbsp;A.A. Lovett","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103723","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103723","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The combination of Brexit and UK government targets, e.g., to address climate change and biodiversity loss, has accelerated the development of new Agri-environmental Scheme (AES), the Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMS). To improve ELMS design and implementation, it is timely to understand farmers' and farm advisers’ views on these schemes, including their design, rollout and fit with pre-existing and new nature markets, e.g., carbon, Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG). Previous research has assessed AES for their attractiveness to farmers and effectiveness. This study examines new challenges associated with the increasing role of the private sector in funding nature recovery on farms, expected increased levels of participation and an increased requirement for collaboration to deliver landscape-scale nature recovery.</div><div>To understand how this new policy landscape is perceived by the agricultural sector, 18 interviews were conducted with farmers and advisors (farmer advisors and nature market experts). Findings show that perceptions are shaped by previous involvement with AES (e.g., payment rates, participation costs, inflexibility) which although largely negative, highlight areas for better scheme design. New insights on farmer participation emphasise the roles of policy uncertainty, market integrity concerns, and collaboration, including with non-farmers, e.g., conservation organisations, water companies. Slow policy release was stressed as a key reason for low adoption and underscores the importance of aligning AES incentives with policy objectives. Furthermore, participants raised a need for cross market compatibility, compliance flexibility and fundamental questions about achieving carbon neutrality as a prerequisite for carbon market participation. On the positive side, participants agreed that new schemes/markets are breaking down social barriers through the necessity to work with a wider group of stakeholders and have been a driver for increasing interest in farm clusters.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"119 ","pages":"Article 103723"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144184409","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Why do we keep killing crows? Farmers’ attachment to a controversial method in an attempt to protect their crops","authors":"Juliette Craplet ,&nbsp;Amal Chantoufi ,&nbsp;Eve-Anne Laurent ,&nbsp;Claude Compagnone ,&nbsp;Alice Baux","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103707","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103707","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Corvids are responsible for important damage to spring crops across western Switzerland and have become a significant concern for the farming community. Various prevention methods have been tested to reduce agricultural losses, but no suitable solution has been found. In an attempt to solve this problem, the Swiss farming community is asking the authorities, despite its relative unpopularity, to liberalize control shooting. However, the effectiveness of this control method has never been scientifically proven, and the few studies in ecology or conservation biology that question its efficiency are not considered by the farming community. This raises the question of why the attachment to an uncertain and controversial method is so strong. By bringing out the farming community's dominant representation of the problem of corvid damage and analyzing the stakeholder network dynamics, this article aims to highlight the social logics and multifactorial dimension of choosing a control method. We found that the fight against corvid damage is part of a more general conflict that pits the farming community against the rest of society on issues of ecology and production. Various social, cultural and cognitive logics lead the farming community to remain attached to control shooting, making a cognitive gamble that has no solid scientific basis. To succeed in getting farmers to abandon control shooting, three conditions must be met: the emergence of a replacement innovation, awareness of the negative practical, economic and ethical aspects of control shooting, and improved access to scientific knowledge on the subject in the farming world.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"119 ","pages":"Article 103707"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144184410","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Researching links between pilgrimage tourism and rural development: The emergence of Fisterra as a “new end” of the way","authors":"María José Andrade Suárez ,&nbsp;Manuel Docampo García ,&nbsp;Ana Leiras","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103721","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103721","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This research examines whether promoting tourism along the emerging pilgrimage route to Fisterra-Muxía (Spain) can support rural socio-economic development and address demographic decline. It focuses on the recent increase in pilgrimage flows and concerns about route saturation. A triangulated methodological approach was employed, combining secondary data analysis, pilgrim surveys, and in-depth interviews with local stakeholders. Cluster analysis of survey responses identified four distinct traveler profiles—<em>Traditional</em>, <em>Busgrim</em>, <em>Tourist</em>, and <em>Mystic</em>—reflecting the coexistence of spiritual, recreational, and post-secular motivations. Results indicate a rise in tourism activity in recent years and generally positive perceptions of its impact among visitors and residents. However, this growth has not reversed the population decline in most municipalities along the route. The study provides actionable recommendations for regional planning, calling for integrated, year-round strategies that balance tourism growth with community resilience and ecological thresholds. Theoretically, it frames emerging pilgrimage routes as laboratories for testing sustainable development models in structurally vulnerable rural contexts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"119 ","pages":"Article 103721"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144177730","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Vignettes of new work in rural settings: A narrative analysis of interviews with stakeholders and members of coworking spaces in a rural region of Sweden","authors":"Erika Wall ,&nbsp;Thomas Persson Slumpi ,&nbsp;Lena-Maria Öberg","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103712","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103712","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In the present narrative analysis, we explore how coworking in a rural context is understood by stakeholders and members in relation to ideas on centre/periphery. Coworking, encompassing a variety of activities, is mostly understood as an urban phenomenon in practice and research. There is a gap in the literature when it comes to how coworking spaces in rural settings are made sense of by stakeholders and members. Here, these understandings specifically will be explored in relation to a theoretical framework on centre/periphery. That is, the dichotomisation of urban-rural is here understood as a social construct implying an urban norm where what is defined as the centre is made sense of as preferable in relation to what is defined as the periphery. Stories of coworking in rural settings are explored through narrative analysis. Based on interviews with 15 persons in northern Sweden, the analysis shows that coworking in rural settings was made sense of in relation to three different storylines, presented as vignettes. From the results of the narrative analysis, we discuss perspectives on centre/periphery and how these concepts can deepen and contribute with further nuances for the understanding of coworking in rural conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"119 ","pages":"Article 103712"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144167084","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The humans behind the herd: are alternative livestock farms agroecological from a socioeconomic perspective?","authors":"Pascal Genest-Richard ,&nbsp;Nicolas Devillers ,&nbsp;Caroline Halde ,&nbsp;Sabrina Tremblay ,&nbsp;Patrick Mundler","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103711","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103711","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In the Global North, alternative livestock farms are sometimes considered preferable to large-scale specialized farms, which are largely preeminent in current livestock supply chains. In this study, we aimed to determine if alternative livestock farms respected the socioeconomic principles of agroecology. A qualitative thematic analysis and a multivariate quantitative analysis were conducted based on data gathered from a sample of 15 farms over the course of three years. All farms raised multiple species and marketed their products through multiple different outlets, most of them directly to the end consumer, ensuring high economic diversification and connectivity. High levels of work satisfaction were commonplace, as farmers’ values were aligned with their work. Even though their sales prices were much higher than those obtained by large-scale specialized livestock farms, average net incomes and employee wages were low. Most farms operated at a small scale, but farms with higher gross incomes had higher net incomes, suggesting a certain level of economic performance due to economies of scale. Most farm characteristics were found to be in line with locally accepted social values such as gender equity, animal welfare, and providing ingredients for meat-forward diets, which are the local norm. Farmers deplored the fact that they did not have the institutional leverage to take part in territorial and food system governance. While alternative livestock farms cannot readily replace large scale specialized farms in terms of production volume, their socioeconomic characteristics were found to align with the agroecological ideal.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"119 ","pages":"Article 103711"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144147340","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The European Green Deal and the peasant cause: Class frustration, cultural backlash and right-wing nationalist populism in farmers’ protests in Poland","authors":"Piotr Żuk","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103708","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103708","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The article analyses the farmer protests that broke out in the spring of 2024 in Poland and their main demands in the broader context of national and EU politics. The author focus on two aspects that could be seen on peasants' banners during the protests. There were the challenges of the European Green Deal in rural areas in Poland and the fears of opening EU markets to agricultural products from Ukraine. The empirical material used in this article comes from focus group interviews conducted with agricultural activists and participants in agricultural protests. The article asks to what extent these protests against the EU's climate policy and the import of cheap food from Ukraine were carried out under a “substitute banner” and to what extent they were an element of more general economic and systemic conflicts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"119 ","pages":"Article 103708"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144139410","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Experiences of dementia in farming communities: A scoping review","authors":"Jennifer Rhiannon Roberts ,&nbsp;Bethan Naunton Morgan ,&nbsp;Catrin Hedd Jones ,&nbsp;Gill Windle","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103710","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103710","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Farming communities experience significant rates of dementia, however research exploring the support needs of this population is scarce. In response, this scoping review examined published literature on the experiences of dementia in farming communities. Five databases were searched for peer-reviewed articles and a general google search conducted for grey literature. Eighteen articles were included in the review. The majority (n = 12) were grey literature including magazine and newspaper articles, demonstrating a large research gap in this area. Thematic analysis generated thirteen sub-themes that are presented within two overarching themes: ‘challenges’ and ‘fostering resilience’. A stakeholder meeting was organised with representatives from eight organisations that support farmers in Wales, to discuss themes and gain additional insights. Findings indicate a unique set of challenges faced by farming communities in relation to dementia, that are in addition to those faced by people living rurally in general. Importantly, this review also highlights helpful advice around opportunities for fostering resilience in people living with dementia and their families in farming communities. The findings of this review could be used to guide the development of healthcare information and support tailored to the unique needs of farming populations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"119 ","pages":"Article 103710"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144135058","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Friends or foes: Can large-scale mining companies partner with small-scale miners? Yes, they can?","authors":"George Ofosu ,&nbsp;Francis Arthur-Holmes ,&nbsp;Daniel Siaw ,&nbsp;David Sarpong","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103709","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103709","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper (re)examines the nexus between large-scale mining (LSM) activities and artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) operations. Broadly speaking, the existing combative resource politics between the two mining entities has created room for the emergence of divergent opinions on sustainable solutions encapsulated in standpoints of ‘cohabitation’ vis-à-vis ‘autonomy’. Employing ‘partnership’ as an analytical lens, this study provides a refreshing perspective of the ‘cohabitation’ of LSM and ASM where they develop and flourish together. Firmly rooted at the base of this success, however, is the formalisation canon that has long ignored the partnership opportunities for ASM operations in many resource-rich countries. We, therefore, argue for formalisation policies to design cohabitation agreements that focus on creating synergies devoid of resource conflicts. Further, we discuss ways through which resources that cannot be fully enclosed by LSM companies can become sources of compromise and negotiation rather than of conflict and violence.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"119 ","pages":"Article 103709"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144107540","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Women's tenure security on collective lands: A conceptual framework","authors":"Ruth Meinzen-Dick ,&nbsp;Cheryl Doss ,&nbsp;Fiona Flintan ,&nbsp;Rachael Knight ,&nbsp;Anne M. Larson ,&nbsp;Iliana Monterroso","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103694","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103694","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Within discussions of land and resource rights, there is growing attention to women's rights, mostly in terms of household and individual rights to private property. This leaves unanswered questions about whether and how women's land rights can be secured under collective tenure, upon which billions of people worldwide depend. There is an important gap in conceptual tools, empirical understanding, and policy recommendations on this topic. To address this gap and lay the foundations for a sound body of empirical studies and appropriate policies, we develop a conceptual framework to improve understanding of women's land rights under collective tenure. We discuss what secure tenure for women on collective lands would entail, then what factors would affect women's tenure security. We give attention to particularities of rangelands, forests, and other types of collective lands as well as commonalities across types. A key theme that emerges is that for women to have secure tenure under collective tenure, the collective (group) itself must have tenure security and the women must have secure rights within this collective. The latter requires us to consider the governance structures, how men and women access and control land, and the extent to which women have voice and power within the collective. More consistent analyses of collective tenure systems using the conceptual framework presented in this paper can help to identify which action resources are important for groups to secure rights to collective lands, and for women to advocate for their rights within the group.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"118 ","pages":"Article 103694"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144084516","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"What good is agroecology? Predominant narratives about agroecology in Africa","authors":"Sidney Madsen ,&nbsp;Esther Laske ,&nbsp;Jarvis Fisher ,&nbsp;Aïssa Ndiereby Sall ,&nbsp;Stephanie Enloe ,&nbsp;Rachel Bezner Kerr","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103706","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103706","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Agroecology is still a marginal approach to agricultural development in Africa when compared to industrial approaches, despite growing evidence of its potential to address core challenges of food insecurity, poverty, and soil degradation. This paper investigates one possible explanation for this discrepancy: the discursive landscape of African agriculture. Taking inspiration from narrative analysis, we document stories about agroecology as told by key actors in the food system: farmers, pastoralists, NGO workers, extension officers, government officials, and researchers. Based on 208 interviews with key informants (KIs) across nine African case studies, we identified three distinct narratives: Agroecology is: 1) a tool in a toolbox 2) for poor farmers 3) the better path. In addition to these narratives, we report KIs' perceptions of two narrative components, namely their definition of agroecology and the key challenges affecting agriculture in their case study site. We use these problem framings to evaluate how logically agroecology fits as a solution in this story, and thus its discursive potential as an approach to agricultural development. We find that many respondents do not consider agroecology to be an effective or relevant solution to major food system challenges, or that they have a limited understanding of the full breadth of agroecology. We suggest that organizations seeking to promote agroecology guide their efforts according to a key agroecological principle, knowledge co-creation, to better understand farmers’ views and experiences with specific agroecological practices in the African context.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"118 ","pages":"Article 103706"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143949102","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}