Journal of Rural Studies最新文献

{"title":"The impact of multiplex relationships on households’ informal farmland transfer in rural China: A network perspective","authors":"Tingting Fang ,&nbsp;Yihu Zhou ,&nbsp;Lei Wang ,&nbsp;Dahong Shi ,&nbsp;Xuejun Duan","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2024.103419","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2024.103419","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Over the last three decades, farmland transfers in rural China have significantly increased. Despite this rise, informal farmland transfers within social networks continue to be common in many villages, underscoring the need for a more nuanced understanding of their determinants. Existing literature extensively explores the influence of social networks on farmland transfers, it often overlooks the distinction between formal and informal transactions and primarily focuses on binary relationships. Limited data availability and constraints in econometric methodology have impeded quantitative estimation of the impact of farmers’ interactions on informal farmland transfers at the local levels. To address this issue, we developed a framework that integrates embeddedness theory and social interaction theory to uncover the mechanism between multiplex relationship and informal farmland transfers from a network perspective. Using survey data collected from all 341 households in a village in central China, we constructed both relationship networks and informal farmland transfer network among peasant households. We then employed the logistic regression quadratic assignment procedure (LRQAP) to quantify the impact of multiplex relationships and network structures on informal farmland transfers. The results reveal a significant positive correlation between multiplex relationships and informal farmland transfer behaviors among peasant households. Specifically, households are more likely to engage in informal farmland transfer through relationships characterized by emotional connections and reciprocal exchanges, rather than through relationships based on cooperative support. Furthermore, our findings indicate that multiplex relationships influence informal farmland transfer behaviors through network structure effects, such as reciprocity and preferential attachment, rather than through transitivity. These results highlight the importance of leveraging multiplex relationships to facilitate and regulate informal farmland transfers amid rural decline and land use change.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"112 ","pages":"Article 103419"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2024-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142652585","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":"Financial literacy practices on family farms","authors":"John Nolan ,&nbsp;Teresa Hogan ,&nbsp;Michael T. Hayden","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2024.103468","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2024.103468","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Financial literacy has attracted significant interest in the past two decades with researchers predominantly focusing on two dimensions of its conceptualisation; knowledge and application. This paper answers calls for research on how context shapes financial literacy in Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) using a practice framework drawn from established literacy theory. Financial literacy practices manifest in events and are influenced and shaped by social, cultural, temporal, technological, historical and institutional circumstances. This context-driven approach facilitates the examination of financial literacy in MSMEs where the owner-manager's financial literacy is entwined with that of the enterprise's practices. Using in-depth longitudinal case studies, we show how social and financial literacy practices on family farms are intrinsically interlinked and frame the timing of financial activities, the roles and tasks people undertake, the location where these activities occur, and how they are articulated. Institutional power relationships manifest in the disconnect between farm level financial literacy practices, many of which are informal and idiosyncratic, and those required by banks and government agencies. This power divide leads to frustration and sometimes apparent indifference to conducting more formal financial literacy practices. Temporality also emerges as a critical contextual factor. We identify the important moments in the farming calendar when farmers are focused on the financial aspects of the farm and propose that educational programmes aimed at improving the farmers' financial literacy could be more effectively targeted using a social practice lens.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"112 ","pages":"Article 103468"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2024-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142572546","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 Co-creation through knowledge (Co)Production: The engagement of universities in promoting rural revitalization in China","authors":"Wei Lang ,&nbsp;Menelaos Gkartzios ,&nbsp;Jialing Yan ,&nbsp;Tingting Chen ,&nbsp;Shuying Tan","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2024.103455","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2024.103455","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The global discourse on the role of universities in rural revitalization has gained significant attention. The proposition is to leverage university expertise and resources to support rural development, including knowledge (co)production, community co-creation, and volunteerism – a practice that essentially bridges local actors and their knowledge with external actors and their knowledge. As advocated by UN Habitat III, the collaboration between universities and rural communities is an initiative exemplified by China's “Jointly Create a Beautiful Environment and a Happy Life” to enhance the built environment. This study aims to comprehensively investigate the implementation and outcomes of the “Rural Four Small Gardens” projects, which serve as a vital community development initiative within the Hongtang Village in Fengqing County, Yunnan Province, China. The research discusses those processes, observing opportunities for knowledge (co)production across diverse stakeholders in line with neo-endogenous rural development thinking. By exploring the co-creation approach employed in these projects, we seek to unravel how academia and local communities collaborate to address multifaceted challenges in rural areas. We argue that: 1) The engagement of rural communities through collaborative planning workshops serves as the fundamental cornerstone for university paired-up assistance; 2) the co-creation model for improving rural settlement necessitates the collective efforts of multiple stakeholders; 3) university faculty and students play pivotal roles during the process of service learning, practice research, and knowledge (co)production with villagers; and 4) Knowledge (co)production entails a dynamic process of co-construction, co-governance, and resource sharing, exemplified by co-creation initiatives of home development, farmyard enhancement, and infrastructure projects. The research offers insights for global universities seeking to engage in similar paired-up assistance initiatives, underscores the significance of co-creation in rural development, and enlightens planning education in practice and service.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"112 ","pages":"Article 103455"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142554262","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":"Characteristics and optimization strategies of multi-subject governance network structure for land consolidation","authors":"Yongzheng Cui ,&nbsp;Wenxiong Wang ,&nbsp;Qingyan Wang ,&nbsp;Qiufang Li","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2024.103470","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2024.103470","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Land consolidation is an essential means to promote rural revitalization. Diversified governance subjects characterize land consolidation, and these subjects are interdependent in their work tasks and gradually form a multi-subject governance network. Effectively configuring a reasonably structured multi-subject governance network for land consolidation is crucial for improving the governance effect of land consolidation and thus promoting rural revitalization. This study constructs the multi-subject governance network for land consolidation from the perspective of a power-interest-trust relationship. Taking the pilot project of comprehensive land consolidation in Hubei Province, China, as the study case, this study analyzes the structural characteristics of the multi-subject governance network for land consolidation using the social network analysis method. The exponential random graph models are used to systematically identify the driving factors of network relationship formation, based on which targeted network structure optimization strategies are proposed. The results show that the multi-subject governance network for land consolidation is generally in a low-level and unbalanced development stage, that this network has overall looseness, local relevance, and significant small-world characteristics, and that the cohesive subgroups of this network exhibit obvious differences in relevance. In addition, this network has prominent core-periphery structure characteristics, and it is constrained by a few core nodes, such as government organizations and implementation enterprises, with most nodes, such as rural communities, financial institutions, and research institutions, at the edge of the network. Based on the above network structure characteristics and the influencing factors of network relationship formation, this study proposes network structure optimization strategies from overall optimization and node optimization. This study can provide theoretical insights and decision-making references for rationally configuring the multi-subject governance network structure of land consolidation, enhancing the governance effectiveness of land consolidation, and then boosting rural revitalization. Meanwhile, it also provides Chinese experience and reference for other developing countries to establish a multi-subject collaborative governance mode of land consolidation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"112 ","pages":"Article 103470"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142554263","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":"From tourists to essential workers: The multifaceted presence of backpackers in rural Queensland, Australia","authors":"Kaya Barry ,&nbsp;Benjamin Lucca Iaquinto ,&nbsp;Rafael Azeredo","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2024.103469","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2024.103469","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Although there is notable scholarship on backpackers and their part in tourism cultures, there has been little reflection on their status as long term essential workers in rural areas and what this means for the communities who receive them. We address this gap by investigating the evolution of Australia's Working Holiday Maker program and how it has shaped the presence of backpackers in farming communities. Contemporary backpacking in Australia now involves a culturally and ethnically diverse cohort, which has become essential for farming communities' economic and cultural livelihoods. We argue that the ongoing modifications to the visa program have transformed the presence of backpackers in farming towns, from highly transient tourists to essential workers who may stay for longer periods as temporary migrants, and this has transformed the people and places that host them. Through the lens of mobilities, we outline useful lessons and insights from this example of a backpacker visa, which are relevant for future research and debates around rural livelihoods, labour migration, and farming communities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"112 ","pages":"Article 103469"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142529872","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dispossession and beyond: Politics of rural land conversion in China's tourism villages","authors":"Karita Kan ,&nbsp;Jie Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2024.103429","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2024.103429","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Across the peripheries of global South cities, projects to convert rural land for development purposes have brought dramatic impact on rural communities and environments. Many of these initiatives involve aggregating land, mobilizing investments, and resettling populations, with direct implications for villagers’ land rights and livelihoods. In existing studies, rural land conversions have often been examined through frameworks of “land grabbing” and “dispossession”. This paper argues for the need to go beyond these frameworks in conceptualizing the varied pathways and outcomes of rural land takings. It presents a comparative case study of two villages in China, whose land has been redeployed for tourism development. In one village, state-led expropriation led to the loss of land rights and the resettlement of villagers in new housing complexes. In another, villagers held onto land ownership and their property but saw intra-community inequalities amplified as residents were differentially incorporated into the tourism economy. By demonstrating how the nuanced mechanisms of land conversion could facilitate variegated livelihood and distributive outcomes between and within communities, this paper problematizes universalist conceptualizations of dispossession and calls for theorizing both “with” and “beyond” dispossession to account for the multifaceted dynamics of land development in global South contexts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"112 ","pages":"Article 103429"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142529871","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Real estate 4.0 – Experiences from the rural","authors":"Niamh McHugh","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2024.103457","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2024.103457","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper explores the concept of Real Estate 4.0 and how this latest phase of technological advancement is being experienced in rural areas through the medium of digital marketing. In particular, it draws upon the experiences of Estate Agents and how through adopting the latest digital marketing technologies, they can specifically target certain audiences as well as influence the perception of the rural through drawing upon popularised notions of this space, such as the rural idyll.</div><div>Real Estate 4.0 builds upon the wider industrial developments occurring across the economy, known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0, and is characterised by the central role of consumer (Schmitt 2017; Morrar et al. 2017). Taken from a sample of 13 Estate Agencies, which varied in their operational structure and location, this paper examines the latest digital marketing practices being used by estate agents today in the sale of real estate, with reference to three villages in the UK, Great Missenden, Ombersley and Caldbeck. In doing so, it provides much needed research into the different digital marketing practices being used by Estate Agents and contributes towards understandings of how these technologies are being experienced in rural areas.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"112 ","pages":"Article 103457"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142529870","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 influences the development of wine-producing regions? New economic opportunities in the eastern foothills of the Helan Mountains in China","authors":"Wang Lei ,&nbsp;He Xiaohua ,&nbsp;Yu Hu ,&nbsp;Li Yajuan","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2024.103453","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2024.103453","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The formation and development of wine regions require unique natural conditions and hundreds of years of technical and cultural accumulation. The development of the wine industry at the eastern foot of Helan Mountain in China, in addition to the appropriate geographical environment, the technical migration, and talent flow supported by consistent policies, have improved the allocation ability of resource factors and conversion efficiency, making it a world-renowned new wine-producing region in just 40 years. This particular mechanism deserves attention as new industries develop in other parts of the world. Using the methods of spatial autocorrelation, hot spot analysis, and geographic detector, this paper comprehensively analyzes the growth and spatial evolution characteristics of wineries in the eastern foot of Helan Mountain in China and deeply discusses the mechanism of the interaction between the localization of global floating capital and China's unique regional economic policies. It is found that the local selection of global floating capital has a spatial locking effect on the formation of CHMWR, and the rolling support policies of China's central and local governments promote the rapid expansion and regional spread of the number and scale of wineries, with significant spatial agglomeration and spatial diffusion. The profound mechanism of such changes lies in the dual interaction of the local selection of global liquid capital and the Chinese government's wine-producing policies adapted to the geographical environment. In this process, a series of internal and external factors such as the innovation of grape planting and wine-making technology, consumer market, and government behavior have accelerated the continuous growth of the wine-producing region at the eastern foot of Helan Mountain in Ningxia. This paper adds a new understanding and deep understanding of the interaction between the local implantation of economic globalization and the macro-control policies of the Chinese government.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"112 ","pages":"Article 103453"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142529869","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":"Concerns and barriers surrounding the farm succession process – perception versus reality for beef farmers in Ireland","authors":"Michael T. Hayden ,&nbsp;Brian Leonard","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2024.103456","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2024.103456","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Generational renewal is widely acknowledged as key to the survival and sustainability of the European agricultural industry. In Ireland and many other European countries an aging farming population, and the lack of succession planning by farmers, are significant concerns regarding the future of the industry. Farm succession is a complex and multifaceted process with the literature highlighting one of its main barriers as a reluctance of older farmers to retire and effectively step-a-side to pass their farm onto the next generation. Such resistance of older farmers is undoubtedly a huge issue in terms of generational renewal of the Irish agricultural industry, however, it is important to understand that there are many sources of concern for farmers that can act as barriers to developing a succession plan. In this context, the objective of this study is to develop a deeper understanding of the concerns and barriers surrounding the farm succession process. Discussions on the topic of farm succession, which took place during semi-structured interviews and consultation meetings with 30 beef farmers in Ireland as part of an intervention programme to support farmers in succession planning, reveal that the source of such concerns appear to stem from two broad areas: <em>successor identification concerns</em> and <em>financial and legal concerns</em>. While acknowledging that such issues cause genuine concern for farmers, we argue that overcoming them may not be as difficult as some farmers may imagine. Hence a distinction between what constitutes <em>real concerns</em> versus what constitutes <em>perceived concerns</em> in the farm succession process emerges. The evidence gathered suggests that where farmers engage the services of professional advisors to discuss farm succession, many of those concerns can be alleviated. Consequently, by reflecting on the findings emerging and by highlighting the case of Irelands <em>Succession Planning Advice</em> Grant as a policy framework solution, we recommend for similar policy development in other countries facing the generational renewal challenge in agriculture. The novel findings emerging from this study provide a valuable contribution to the literature, to practice, and to policy development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"112 ","pages":"Article 103456"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142529983","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":"\"Eat up. Save Earth.\" Alternative proteins and the myth of inevitable sustainability","authors":"Elissa Dickson ,&nbsp;Nathan Clay","doi":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2024.103447","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrurstud.2024.103447","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The emerging agri-food tech sector promises to solve myriad environmental problems. This article considers the sociotechnical imaginaries that animate these claims. We focus on plant-based meat and dairy substitutes, or 'alternative proteins' (APs). To examine how APs are constructed as environmental solutions, we analyzed marketing materials, sustainability reports, and interviews. Our study illustrates how environmental metrics (Life Cycle Assessments) and corporate marketing make environmental issues legible to agri-industrial logics by reducing them to a narrow, technical issue: inefficient livestock. To critique this problem closure, we develop the concept of <em>inevitable sustainability</em>–where the increased adoption of a technology is equated with the assured reduction of environmental harm. We caution that APs support a neoliberal model of environmental governance that propagates apolitical and deterritorialized solutions. To reflect on the limits of agri food tech environmental fixes, we discuss three myths surrounding inevitable sustainability. We outline this concept's applicability to similar instances of environmental solutionism in agri-food tech and beyond.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Rural Studies","volume":"112 ","pages":"Article 103447"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142529982","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}