The Life Course of Leisure-Oriented Retirement Communities

Abstract

Leisure-oriented retirement communities (LORCs) are specifically designed to meet the housing needs of a small but important sector of older population. This research involved informal follow-up site visits to seven LORCs that were the focus of previous research in the 1980s. In general, the communities were found to have remained viable by adjusting to changes in both the housing market and the needs and preferences of residents. Interviews with key informants at each site suggest that, despite economic and social pressures, the viability of these communities has been characterized by the autonomy and stability of community organization and quality of life, as indicated through amenities packages.     

Across the divide (?): Reconciling farm and town views of agriculture–community linkages

In North America and elsewhere it is frequently asserted that changes in rural society have led to an economic and social ‘decoupling’ of agriculture from the wider rural community. Casual analysis of contemporary media reporting and popular discourse would suggest that interactions between the two spheres are as often characterized by neglect or conflict as by complementarity and collaboration. However, scholarly interpretation of evolving relations between farming and the wider rural community, and whether these constitute a trend to relinking or decoupling, has remained elusive and problematic. This paper advocates for and articulates a case study approach to the analysis of ‘ambiguous interdependency’ at the local level. Specifically, it is argued that much can be learned from a comparative analysis of farm and town views of sector-specific development trajectories and of implications for agriculture–community linkages. Insights obtained from in-depth interviews with 68 farm and town residents of South Huron County, Ontario, suggest a strong tendency for farmers to undervalue their importance and influence within the local community, but also highlight certain consequences of ongoing agricultural change and recent municipal restructuring that point toward the continued reshaping of agricultural community linkages. The research suggests both points of convergence and divergence that may be valuable in understanding, and perhaps managing, future development at the local scale and beyond.     

‘The good old days’: In-migration,social control and the decline of the ‘imagined’ community in a north Wales market town

Rural communities across Britain are witnessing local level social, political and economic developments within the broader context of a general contemporary restructuring of the countryside. Changes such as in-migration, a loss of young people in search of employment, a declining agricultural economy and the closure of public services act to question long-standing ideas of the countryside that encompass a lifestyle bound up with community and belonging. It seems then that the traditional community is disappearing in the face of modernity. However, this paper argues that the traditional community was held up as an important reference point in a north Wales market town when faced with social change. As a response to the issue of in-migration local people constructed their version of what can be termed an imagined traditional community. What is clear from the research is that even in a symbolic sense, this imaginary dimension of community was still a powerful determinant in shaping perceptions and motivating actions at the local level.     

IMMIGRATION AND RURAL AMERICA

Immigration is changing the face of rural America. Stable, year-round employment in the food-processing industry is the most significant factor attracting immigrants into the rural Midwest. Much has been published documenting social and economic changes in rural communities following surges in immigration in rural meat-processing communities. The purpose of the present investigation was to examine immigrants’ perceptions of work and residence in rural America. To this end, personal interviews were conducted with 43 immigrants residing in three Nebraska meatpacking communities. Participants described routes of immigration and motivations for international movement, work in the packing plants, and rural residence. Work for future investigators and the role of policy and social service professionals are presented.     

“There Ain’t No Bond in Town Like There Used to Be”: The Destruction of Social Capital in the West Virginia Coalfields1

There is a paucity of research focusing on the circumstances that cause or contribute to a decline in social capital within communities. Furthermore, relatively few researchers employ qualitative methods in their studies of social capital, despite the multidimensional and many‐layered nature of this concept, characteristics that make social capital well suited for qualitative analysis. To address these two gaps in social capital research, I explore the mechanisms that have led to a depletion of social capital in the southern coal‐producing region of West Virginia. I examine whether the coal industry, which has caused bitter conflicts among residents over environmental degradation and union loyalties, has also undermined social capital in the region. My principal data include 40 semi‐structured, face‐to‐face interviews with randomly selected individuals in a coal‐mining town and a demographically similar non‐coal‐mining town in West Virginia. I analyze the experiences of residents in each town, assessing the qualitative differences in community and personal life associated with social capital. I find that the loss of social capital in the coal‐mining community has arisen through a combination of depopulation and the community‐wide conflict that arose when an anti‐union coal company bought out the union coal mine at which many in the community worked, challenging the union identity so engrained in this region.     

Reconstructing rurality and community: plantation forestry in Victoria, Australia

Changes in land use are a common response to deterioration in the economic viability of farming. While diversification into other agricultural land uses apparently takes place with little consternation or resistance, the development of plantation forestry on agricultural land is often accompanied by concern and controversy. What sets plantation forestry apart from agriculture is that it often involves new forms of ownership and control, it is accompanied by changes in population, and it transforms the production landscape. The development of plantation forestry has become increasingly commonplace in many parts of rural Australia, and it has been met with mixed reactions from rural communities. Our interest was to explore the outlook and perspectives on forestry within a rural locality—Branxholme in the State of Victoria—that is experiencing relatively rapid land-use change into planted forests. We provide a synopsis of community reactions to land-use change. The social construction of change is reported at one level in relation to well-established elements—population, service provision, and employment. Underlying our analysis, though, is an attempt to understand the social construction of change in relation to the higher-order concepts of rurality and community.     

Farm women in Canada,New Zealand and Australia redefine their rurality

This paper focuses on rural women's networks in Ontario, New Zealand and Australia. It investigates three issues: the social contexts in which farm women in Canada, Australia and New Zealand have developed new networks since the late 1970s; the responses of farm women in each country to the changes in the agricultural industry in the last two decades; and the way farm women's organisations are responding to contemporary changes in rural society. In the concluding section, the farm women's movement is interpreted in terms of agency and structure. It is suggested that the establishment of organisations that can speak for farm women at government levels has countered their deep sense of marginalisation and alienation within their industry. In keeping with the dynamic nature of contemporary society, farm women's organisations will need to be flexible and adaptable in order to facilitate quick responses to rapidly evolving economic an social issues.     

Geographical indications, terroir, and socioeconomic and ecological sustainability: The case of tequila

In this paper, we use the case of tequila to examine the potential for geographical indications (GIs) to contribute to socioeconomic and environmental sustainability. GIs are place-based names (e.g., Champagne, Roquefort) that convey the geographical origin, as well as the cultural and historical identity, of agricultural products. The GI for tequila was established by the Mexican government in 1974, making it the oldest GI, and one of the best-recognized, outside of Europe. Here, we examine the social, economic, and ecological impacts that the agave–tequila industry has had on one community in tequila's region of origin, the town of Amatitán. We show that persistent cycles of surplus and shortage of agave and changing production relations in the agave–tequila industry have led to: (1) economic insecurity among farm households; (2) increased use of chemical inputs, at the expense of more labor-intensive cultivation practices; and (3) overall declines in fertilizer application, especially during periods in which there is a surplus of agave. We argue that the negative effects of the agave–tequila industry on the local economy and environment are due to the failure of the GI for tequila to value the ways in which the terroir of tequila's region of origin have contributed to its specific properties. We conclude by using this case to discuss more generally the relationship between the protection of place-based products (known collectively as geographical indications) and social and environmental sustainability.     

Development and Social Problems: The Impact of the Offshore Oil Industry on Suicide and Homicide Rates1

Abstract There are few studies in the literature concerning economic development that examine the impact of offshore oil and gas extraction on communities and even fewer that use annual data, examine more than one community and account for the degree of involvement of the community in the oil industry. This study rectifies these problems. The results support hypotheses derived from social disorganization and relative deprivation theories by demonstrating that higher levels of and rapid changes in development are associated with higher homicide and suicide rates, especially in communities that are more involved in resource extraction. The utility of the methods and the implications of the results for theory and future research are discussed.     

Promoting a Development Focus in the Community Organization Curriculum

As the problem of poverty has become more acute, community organization teaching needs to focus more directly on programs that will raise standards of living at the local level. This article suggests that African community development is highly relevant to the promotion of community-based economic and social development projects. Although the idea that approaches from Third World countries can be adapted to enhance educational programs in the United States is a novel one, the African approach to community development has much to offer American schools of social work that are seeking to prepare students to work with poor communities in both inner-city and rural areas.     

Spicing Up a 150-Year-Old Porcelain Factory: Art,Localism and Transnationalism in Arita's Happy Lucky Kiln

The Kouraku Kiln, a 150-year-old Japanese porcelain factory in the traditional rural pottery town of Arita, has been struggling with the economic decline brought by the burst of the bubble in the mid-1990s, rural migration and changes in lifestyle and tastes. Using ethnographic fieldwork, I look at the independent innovative activities that the Kouraku Kiln factory has put into place to overcome such problems: an artist-in-residence program and a treasure hunt, both coordinated by Brazilian ceramic artist and cultural agitator Sebastião Pimenta. By making use of the local history, identity, and infrastructure to attract visitors from all over the world to the production site, Kouraku Kiln has changed its focus from its products by selling knowledge and experiences. Besides contributing to the revitalization of the local economy, the constant presence of Pimenta and other international artists at the factory has added to the creation of multicultural exchanges in the local community, raising issues about social integration and local citizenship. With this case study, I aim to add to discussions about the revitalization of rural places and the regeneration of Japanese traditional crafts through the acknowledgment of globalization and mobility. By addressing issues related to the impact of transnational flows in rural communities, this article argues for the contributions of migrants in their communities of destination and examines the transforming relationships between art, society, and local development.     

Social Capital Investment and Immigrant Economic Trajectories: A Case Study of Punjabi American Taxi Drivers in New York City

Although the scholarship on social capital and immigrant economic incorporation has sufficiently documented how immigrants mobilize social capital in their search for employment which often leads to the formation of immigrant niches, how social capital is processed after immigrants acquire employment and its significance for the preservation of immigrant employment niches is less well explored. This paper addresses this gap in the literature with a case study of immigrant Punjabi taxi drivers in the New York metropolitan area. In particular, this study shows how a group of immigrant Punjabi taxi drivers mobilized social capital via embeddedness in co‐ethnic social networks and improved their working conditions – a process that must be considered in explanations of the Punjabi niche in the taxi industry for more than two decades. The study has implications for the relationship between social capital and the structure of the workplace or industry where immigrants are incorporated and its subsequent impact on immigrant economic trajectories. Further, this study contributes to the debate on the usefulness of ethnic communities for the adaptation of immigrant groups. Additionally, this research is relevant to the scholarship on the economic adaptation of South Asian (a subset of Asian Americans) immigrants, an understudied immigrant group in the United States.     

Framing Service Learning in Social Work: An Interdisciplinary Elective Course Embedded within a University–Community Partnership

While academic service learning has grown in popularity across disciplines and universities, the pedagogical strategies for service learning courses vary greatly, especially for courses focused on development in underserved communities. Ideally, service learning pedagogy should place equal importance on student and community benefits, build reciprocal relationships with community partners, and engage students in deep reflection about social cultural and economic issues. In designing a new service learning elective course to engage students in a rural town revitalization project, we intentionally framed the course to meet the aforementioned goals. We used a three-component service learning pedagogy model that: (1) embedded the course in an existing university–community partnership; (2) mobilized interdisciplinary teams of students for community-identified projects; and (3) promoted reflection on complex economic and social justice issues by integrating students' processing through blog, faculty–student–community discussions, and community feedback. Benefits to students and community based on two qualitative studies are discussed, as are implications for social work education and research.     

Getting to Yes or Bailing on No: The Site Selection Process of Ethanol Plants in Wisconsin

Prior studies of ethanol location rest on the assumption that ethanol producers are economic free agents—evaluating sites as if all counties are contenders for their business, weighing the availability of feedstocks along with their infrastructure needs, operating without ties to localities, and being subject to enticement from policy incentives. We analyze the political‐economic process through which ethanol plants come into communities by examining plant location decisions, plant financing, community receptivity toward the plant, local government incentives, and the dynamics of the approval process. We use case studies of ethanol plants in Wisconsin to explore the economic, social, and political dynamics of ethanol plant location. Our case studies provide evidence in support of some findings in the ethanol location literature—such as the importance of access to corn; however, they also suggest site selection criteria not adequately addressed by the literature. Furthermore, our data suggest that capital may not be as mobile as location theory assumes it to be and that location decisions are not primarily determined by consideration of profit maximization. Instead, the location of ethanol plants is greatly influenced by the extent to which the original initiators of the plant are locally embedded in its host community. Our research answers Barkley and McNamara's ( 1994 :45) call for a return to a case studies approach in order to develop “reliable insights into the location process.”     

Social capital and economic development in regional Australia: A case study

This article reports the findings of a case study of social capital and economic development conducted in two towns in regional Australia between 2001 and 2002. The hypothesis driving the research states that a town displaying a high level of social capital will also display a high level of economic development, while a town with a low level of social capital will display a low level of economic development. Moreover, it is suggested the social capital will exert a positive causal influence on economic development. The study goes some way to confirming this hypothesis and provides empirical evidence to suggest that both bonding and bridging social capital are important for successful community economic development outcomes.     

Contradictions in Agrarian Ideology: Restructuring Gender,Race-Ethnicity,and Class1

Abstract Contradictions in agrarian ideology are revealed through an analysis of social dimensions of economic restructuring in rural Iowa. Data are culled from field observations and in-depth interviews with white European American residents. How rural residents cope with and make sense of the changes within their communities are two interrelated dimensions of social restructuring. The research highlights a perception of sharpening social and economic divisions within two small communities. The social and economic changes challenged residents' self-definitions, perspectives on rural community life, and previously taken-for-granted notions of gender, racial-ethnic, and class relations. Analysis of field data demonstrates contradictory ways that discourses on agrarianism and gemeinschaft serve as resources as well as impediments to social support and community development.     

No going back. Mexican women find opportunity and obstacles in a changing economy

An overview was provided of some of the economic and social changes in Mexico that impact on women. At the Colegio de Postgraduados, an ongoing project will examine women's work roles in an agricultural setting. The Ford Foundation has funded research studies at Mexican universities. One such study will examine women workers in foreign-owned factories producing duty free export goods; another study involves interviews with street vendors in the informal sector. Jose Alonso is a specialist on the Mexican garment industry, teaches at the University of the Americas, and advises at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico. He contends that the process of development can best be understood by examining the informal sector. There is no Mexican tradition of a business class. Scholars at the Colegio de Postgraduados' Center for Rural Development are exploring income generation schemes, and building a master's degree program specializing in gender and rural development. The program would train professionals with an understanding of the needs of rural women and appropriate strategies for improving women's social and economic conditions. Crises have precipitated major shifts in work patterns in Mexico. During the 1980s, inflation and unemployment rapidly increased and income declined to 1970s levels. Mass movement of women into the labor force occurred. For many women, the dual role in long paid work hours and family and domestic care has produced independence with a big price tag. Manufacturing jobs along the free trade border areas have provided work opportunities for women, who hold 70% of the jobs. These jobs have moved from low paid menial tasks to higher skilled and better paid positions with training, but only for some women. There are few unions, and the government Confederation of Mexican Workers does not include women. Notwithstanding working conditions, women confront other problems with housing and the lack of basic amenities such as electricity, tap water, trash collection, and paved roads and walkways. Border areas such as Juarez attract 200 unemployed daily. Unregulated growth will turn these border cities into densely populated areas. About 40% of the economically active population work in the informal sector. Much of the vendor merchandise is illegal contraband, and intricate handicrafts are sold next to electronic games, cosmetics, and silk-screened T shirts. Informal work is also available for women in cottage industries at home. The Agro-Industrial Women's Unit in Buenavista helps to secure agricultural land holdings for women.     

Intermittent labour forms in U.K. agriculture: Some implications for rural areas

Intermittent labour forms — generally conceived as ‘seasonal or casual workers’, but also including labour supplied by agricultural contractors or, under cooperative arrangements, by neighbours or family members — are an established and increasingly important part of the U.K. agricultural labour market. Unfortunately, relatively little is known about either the precise level or the detailed character of such labour. Although the MAFF June Census does collect data on ‘seasonal or casual’ workers it is limited in both its scale and depth of coverage. In this paper, the results of a survey of intermittent labour forms on farms in part of north Wales and the north and south west Midlands are discussed. In general, it is shown that the true extent of intermittent employment is almost certainly much greater — perhaps by a factor of five or more — than the MAFF Census figures would imply. From the survey data it is demonstrated that farms across the range of product and size structures make extensive use of both directly-recruited and indirectly-recruited (contract) labour. More specifically, a restructuring process and the substitution of such labour forms for regular labour is evident.Having considered the level and character of intermittent employment in modern agriculture the paper goes on to consider some of the implications for rural economies. In general it is argued that the use of intermittent labour has almost certainly precipitated some radical changes in the organisation of the farm labour force and in the ability of farmers or growers to service their own needs from within. Moreover, the restructuring process has served to erode the viability of the rural economic and social structure by replacing stable job opportunities with alternatives that offer only a marginal form of job experience and limited income and which cannot in isolation support rural communities.     

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE,SWINE PRODUCTION AND FARM LOSS IN NORTH CAROLINA

Since the early 1990s, North Carolina has been the fastest growing swine-producing state in the country and the leading innovator in vertically integrated, industrially structured hog farming. Although the growth and concentration of swine production has been associated with a host of negative social and environmental impacts on the states air, land, and waterways, environmental justice and farm loss concerns have played a particularly key role in the evolution of the controversy in North Carolina. Using multivariate analysis of statewide census and agricultural data, we identified the county-level sociodemographic characteristics associated with farm loss between 1982 and 1997. We found that recent patterns of farm loss were more pronounced in Black communities, regardless of income, and low-income communities, regardless of race. Furthermore, counties that had greater hog industry growth in the early 1980s and had large hog populations by 1992 have suffered greater farm loss since the early 1980s than counties where the hog industry growth did not intensify until more recently. The implications of these findings with reference to an expanded environmental justice framework regarding the discriminatory impacts of swine facilities on minority and low-income rural communities are discussed.     

Women in the city of man: recent contributions to the gender and human settlements debate

This article reviews recent publications that add to the debate about gender and human settlements. Urban development is ultimately shaped by gender assumptions and by the way in which each sex experiences the urban environment; gender-blind urban planning can be overcome by reaching a greater understanding of women's economic and social roles (and the limitations imposed on them) in urban society. Most of the recent publications on women and human settlements have been produced for international conferences that have helped to mainstream gender issues and incorporate them into urban policy and practice. "Women in the City" is the report of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's 1994 conference. Concerns raised in this report about the adverse effects a poorly designed living environment has on women, especially elderly women, are echoed in the proceedings of a 1992 international conference held at the University of Michigan, which considered issues of shelter policy, law, shelter and women in crisis, women's participation in the production of shelter, shelter and income opportunities, women and shelter-related services and infrastructure, nontraditional living arrangements, design, and the needs of elderly women. A 1994 publication edited by Meer contains a series of papers that analyze how women respond to urban poverty. Other recent publications focus on: 1) how women's work changes in response to economic development and urbanization, 2) survival strategies, 3) urban microenterprises, 4) gender analysis of land use and town planning, and 5) research and policy priorities that emerged from a 1994 conference held in Nairobi. In order to achieve social justice, gender issues must be analyzed along with issues such as age, ethnicity, and class.