Journal of Rural Studies最新文献

{"title":"Rural political leaders and social housing provision in early post-war England","authors":"Keith Hoggart","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103770","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103770","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>English rural councils have long been criticised for slothful responses to local housing deficiencies. Investigated in the context of all English councils over 1945–1974, housing policy shifts in 10 rural districts identified as either higher- or lower-performers nationally are explored. Differences in social house-building rates were associated with divergent attitudes toward social housing as well as uneven dynamism in policy implementation. Yet these influences were subdued compared to national policy shifts that first encouraged then bore down on rural social housing. In times of national restraint, higher-performing councils cultivated national government predilections in order to promote local goals or found new mechanisms for channelling resources to meet local needs. Lower-performing councils were more inclined to follow the slipstream of national direction, though not necessarily with enthusiasm. Councils did act out of character, or intensified inner drives, if prompted by political trauma or lured by locally-based national projects. Assumptions of rural-urban leadership differences were found wanting, while the slippage of some high-performing councils into lower-performing ranks raised questions over policy emphases on localist drivers for positive rural change.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"119 ","pages":"Article 103770"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144549339","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":"Constructing ideal wanghong villages on social media: the rural aesthetics, e-commerce livestreaming, and digital representations of Chinese rurality","authors":"Yilei Wang,&nbsp;Hua Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103782","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103782","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In contemporary China, social media has become an integral force in reshaping how rural life is represented, consumed, and imagined. As rural residents increasingly share their everyday experiences online, many have emerged as rural microcelebrities—or <em>sannong wanghong</em>—who actively participate in reconfiguring public perceptions of the countryside. Against this background, this study intends to investigate how e-commerce livestreaming on TikTok influences the digital construction of rurality in China. Drawing on a multimodal discourse analysis of livestreaming content combined with interviews, the study identifies three dominant themes in the portrayal of rural lifescapes, that is, the symbolic consumption of rural authenticity, the creation of exotic yuanshengtai brand, and the empowerment of rural neighbourhood. Together, these themes recast rural China as an avenue for urban escape, an object of consumption, and a realm ripe with developmental potential for middle-class viewers. These representations are not spontaneous; rather, they are shaped by the intersecting forces of China's platform economy, state-led cultural governance, and participatory governance initiatives. By examining how Chinese digital platforms mediate rural imaginaries, the study contributes to broader understandings of media, rural transformation, and state-society relations in the era of platform capitalism.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"119 ","pages":"Article 103782"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144522074","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":"Exploring human–pollinator relationships: Synergies between beekeeping and wild pollinator conservation","authors":"Costanza Geppert ,&nbsp;Giacomo Ortis ,&nbsp;Francesco Mainardi ,&nbsp;Lorenzo Marini","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103751","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103751","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Beekeepers are at the front line of understanding pollinator health. While both wild pollinator conservation and beekeeping are essential to natural and managed ecosystems, their objectives can diverge, particularly when the honeybee is viewed as central rather than part of a broader pollinator community. Beekeepers' values for managed and wild pollinators can help understanding their engagement with conservation and solving emerging conflicts. We carried out in-depth interviews with 40 beekeepers in North-East Italy, including 20 commercial and 20 hobbyist, investigating their risk perception regarding the honeybees’ health, values for pollinators and willingness to protect wild pollinators. Although commercial and hobbyist beekeepers managed their operations differently, they shared the same concerns and values for pollinators. Respondents started beekeeping driven by interest or through connections with friends or family members and the vast majority considered their activity beneficial to local residents. Both commercial and hobbyist beekeepers expressed concern about climate-change and held strong relational values for the honeybee, supporting the importance of integrating relational values, such as stewardship and identity, when studying human-nature connections. Actions to conserve wild pollinators received a higher support when beneficial for the honeybee too, while specific actions targeting only wild pollinators were less supported. However, commercial beekeepers holding high intrinsic values for wild pollinators were more likely to help them. Overall, we identified synergies and areas where potential conflicts between conservationists and beekeepers can emerge. As beekeepers represent a crucial stakeholder group, collaborations and dialogues among people who value wild pollinators are needed to effectively protect them.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"119 ","pages":"Article 103751"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144534258","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":"Varied rural dreams? External elites' conception of rurality and their influence on the production of rural space in China's rural revitalization","authors":"Chengyan Xia","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103781","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103781","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The study focuses on how external elites produce new rural spaces through their conceived rurality and related practices within the context of China's rural revitalization efforts in declining rural areas. For this purpose, purposive sampling and in-depth interviews were conducted amongst external elites, town-level officials, and village participants at Dashuipo Town, a rural area where elites are introduced through government mediations, university platforms, and established elite networks. The study develops Halfacree's and Frisvoll's conceptualization of the production of rural space by incorporating elements specific to the Chinese context: guanxi, rural revitalization policies, and gentry culture. The study identifies six types of rurality conceived by external elites: experimental site, idyllic rural life, like-minded community, production site, sustainable development, and rural tourism. These ruralities are translated into new rural spaces through immaterial (guanxi, rural revitalization policies), material (land use rights, money), and personal practices (career, family, lifestyle pursuits), with gentry culture impacting immaterial and personal practices. While these practices have created improved infrastructure, cultural initiatives, and economic opportunities, the study reveals the lack of community capacity building and social-spatial segregation between external elites and local communities. The findings suggest that the activities of external elites in Dashuipo reflect a uniquely Chinese, state-embedded, production-oriented rural gentrification process, where governments, anchor institutions, and elites work closely together to achieve their respective goals. The study concludes by recommending the development of more effective collaboration mechanisms to engage local communities and build their capacity, thus contributing to more equitable and sustainable rural development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"119 ","pages":"Article 103781"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144522073","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":"Digital platforms governing practices: how data objects reconfigure Indonesian fish farming","authors":"Sake R.L. Kruk ,&nbsp;Sanneke Kloppenburg ,&nbsp;Fini Lovita","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103764","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103764","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Digital platforms are seen as promising tools to empower smallholder farmers and improve the sustainability of their production practices. However, realizing this promise will depend on the ways in which platforms get integrated into, reconfigure, and steer smallholder farming practices. In this paper we analyse the case of a digital platform for small-scale aquaculture in Indonesia. We build on social practice theory to understand the platformization of fish farming practices as a process in which data becomes the key organizing object in connecting a variety of farming practices. Through interviews with fish farmers, input suppliers and buyers, as well as the platform providers and user interface developers we trace how fish farmers get enrolled in the platform ecosystem. We show that with the introduction of an automated, internet-connected feeder machine at the pond, fish farming practices become datafied. The resulting data object of a ‘feed conversion ratio’ then starts to prefigure other practices of the fish farmers, such as buying inputs, getting access to finance, harvesting, and selling the fish. Next, aggregating these datafied farming practices at the platform provider's regional hubs and head quarter enables new forms of steering (sustainable) markets. Instead of a platform logic being imposed on small-scale producers, we show that platformization requires various forms of work from both platform users and providers. We conclude by reflecting on the implications of data objects traveling far beyond their original context and their potential use by other food system actors to steer smallholder practices in new directions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"119 ","pages":"Article 103764"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144522075","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":"Analysing wetland enterprise in northern Malawi using a modified community capitals framework: the case of garlic farming","authors":"Adrian Wood ,&nbsp;Patrick Thawe ,&nbsp;Matthew Snell","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103780","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103780","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Using a modified community capitals framework, this study explores 15 years of innovative garlic cultivation in seasonal wetlands in northern Malawi. This new enterprise has stimulated economic change for both male and female headed households through the growth of entrepreneurial, social and cultural capitals, especially in the marketing of their produce and the accumulation of capital for investment. However, the risks from dependence on a single crop and from damage to the natural capital directly and indirectly related to garlic farming pose threats to these communities’ livelihoods. The study concludes that there is a clear need for enhanced legal capital in the form of a national wetland policy and for stronger political capital in the communities to obtain government technical advice for wetland farming. Building groups of community capitals around four practical foci: policy, enterprise, technical skills and institutions, is seen as necessary if communities are to ensure the contribution of wetland agriculture to poverty reduction and food security in Malawi and other African countries in the face of climate change. The study shows the value of the modified community capital framework and its ability to penetrate diverse rural situations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"119 ","pages":"Article 103780"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144522076","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 empowering rural Spain: A study of entrepreneurial career satisfaction","authors":"Manuel Morales Valero ,&nbsp;Sergio Moldes-Anaya ,&nbsp;Diana Amber Montes ,&nbsp;Cristina Cruz González","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103778","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103778","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Women entrepreneurs in rural Spain play a vital role in combating depopulation, yet they often encounter challenges impacting their professional satisfaction. This study investigates factors influencing satisfaction among female entrepreneurs associated with the Confederation of Rural Women (CERES). We utilized the Motivation and Conditionings of the Entrepreneurial Career Questionnaire (MCCE) with a sample of 379 cases, analyzing data using a logit model. Results reveal intrinsic motivation and Career counselling as key determinants of satisfaction. Furthermore, findings suggest that work-life balance factors may also influence satisfaction. Despite facing adversity, these women remain crucial in rural Spain's depopulation struggle.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"119 ","pages":"Article 103778"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144522077","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":"Community-supported agriculture and allotment gardens as collective forms of food production – Investigating the effect of social capital on perceived benefits","authors":"Christian Ritzel ,&nbsp;Stefan Mann","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103773","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103773","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Both community-supported agriculture and allotment gardens are collective forms of food production in which members collaborate to provide common goods and services. In addition to improving food self-sufficiency, contributing to members' health and well-being and investing in education and skill development, generating social capital is a major motivational factor for people engaging in collective food production. This is the first study to empirically investigate the effects of social capital on the perceived benefits of members engaged in collective food production in Switzerland. As institutionalised collective and democratic decision-making is central to collective food production, we also considered members’ decision-making capacity to be a determinant of perceived benefits, as well as the relationship between decision-making capacity and social capital. For the empirical analyses, we used data from an online survey of members engaged in collective food production (N = 500) conducted in December 2022 and January 2023. We tested for group differences between community-supported agriculture and allotment gardens and between females and males by separately using multivariate analysis of variance and covariance and structural equation modelling. Our results consistently indicated that the relationship between social capital and perceived benefits was statistically significantly positive. However, we found no effect differences between organisational forms and gender. By contrast, we found only marginal evidence that decision-making capacity negatively affects perceived benefits. As social capital plays a vital role in the success of collective food production, it should be strengthened by organising informal activities, such as parties or art exhibitions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"119 ","pages":"Article 103773"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144522144","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":"Citizen preferences for supporting farmers in sustainable rural management: An analysis of five biogeographically differentiated European countries","authors":"Rao Fu ,&nbsp;Meng Yue ,&nbsp;Shan Jin ,&nbsp;Lynn J. Frewer","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103779","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103779","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Farmers' adoption of sustainable practices is important if rural management is to deliver against environmental targets. Developing policies that enable such practices requires the support of broader society, including citizens with differing priorities and values related to e.g. food production and environmental protection. The aim of this research was to investigate European citizens' attitudes towards different approaches to promoting sustainable practices among farmers (financial incentivisation for adopters, technical advice regarding traditional methods, and technical advice regarding innovative technological approaches) as well as personal and environmental drivers of these attitudes from a Social Cognitive Theory perspective. Online survey data were analysed from 3,190 citizens in the Czech Republic (n = 649), Spain (n = 623), Sweden (n = 645), Switzerland (n = 641), and the UK (n = 632). These countries represented biogeographical regions with different habitat conditions and roles for agriculture within their national economies. The results indicated that participants from all of the five countries expressed a moderate to high level of support for financial incentivisation, with Swiss participants showing the lowest level of support. A similar range of moderate to high support was shown for technical advice on traditional methods and innovative technological approaches, with traditional methods receiving greater support than innovative approaches in all countries except for Spain. A two-step cluster analysis based on participants' perceptions of ecosystem service benefits in, and threats to, rural areas identified four segments within the participant sample: ‘rural ES benefits-focused citizens’, ‘citizens moderately engaged in rural multifunctionality’, ‘citizens highly engaged in rural multifunctionality’, and ‘ecocentric citizens’. Multiple regression analyses showed that highly engaged citizens tended to have the highest levels of support for all three approaches to promoting sustainable practices, whereas moderately engaged citizens demonstrated the lowest levels of support. Individuals with stronger preservationist environmental attitudes, and with higher trust in farmers and landowners, were associated with greater support. The results provide evidence for guiding future citizen engagement and policymaking related to pro-environmental rural management initiatives.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"119 ","pages":"Article 103779"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144517801","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":"Exploring co-production through engagement between scientists and producers in an agricultural living lab: A case study in Canada","authors":"Patrick James,&nbsp;Brooke McWherter,&nbsp;Alana R. Westwood","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103777","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103777","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Agricultural living labs are initiatives where agricultural researchers work with commercial producers to test innovations and management practices under real world scenarios. In Canada, living labs across aim to use a co-production model across the research design and implementation cycle. This model is meant to combine the knowledge and experiences of producers, researchers, and key industry stakeholders. While a key component of co-production is engagement between producers and scientists, this process has not been widely studied in living labs. We developed a concept map for researcher-producer engagement based on identified success factors for living labs and used this to interview participants in Living Lab New Brunswick (11 agricultural producers and 3 scientists). Our results highlight the trade-offs of high trust in producer engagement in living labs and the influence of programmatic design features in informing engagement. Ultimately, our results showcase the challenges of building early engagement in co-production processes and how structural processes such as project scale and institutional incentives can complicate collaborative research. Living labs represent a collaborative research approach that aims to co-develop, test, and evaluate relevant practices to producers. Our results showcase the design and institutional opportunities and challenges in building engagement for co-production, providing considerations for other practitioners building engagement in co-production processes with rural agricultural communities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"119 ","pages":"Article 103777"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144517799","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}