Perspectives on Regional and Enterprise Marginality: Dairying in Michigan's North Country1

Abstract Dairy farmers in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, an economically marginal rural region, are encumbered by contextual constraints that are not similarly faced by their downstate counterparts. However, this does not mean that they are any less ambitious or less efficient in dealing with the resources available to them. Indeed, dairying and similar small-scale economic enterprises in this and other marginal contexts may be quite competitive and sustainable if appropriate sociopolitical supports are instituted and, in the case of dairying, if marketing orders and regulatory policies are formulated and implemented in light of their impact upon the economic growth and viability of the wider region. To explore this issue, we consider the situations, basic characteristics, and restructuring trends over time of dairy farms in three upstate localities as compared with that of a downstate dairy farming community.     

The sugarcane-biofuel expansion and dairy farmers' responses in Brazil

The expansion of sugarcane for biofuels is a highly contentious issue. The growth of sugarcane area has occurred simultaneously with a reduction of dairy production in São Paulo state, the primary production region for sugar and ethanol in Brazil. This paper analyses different dairy farm rationales to continue dairy production in the context of a dramatically expanding sugarcane economy. Combining different data sets – semi-structured interviews with 34 farmers and baseline data from all members of a dairy farm co-operative – makes it possible to recognize different farm types. This heuristic tool is used to identify the various strategies regarding shifting to biofuel production or investing in dairy farming. The paper identifies labour availability, household resilience and technology introduction as key factors in the context of complex, multiple interactions between the biofuel sector and dairy production. We will argue that biofuel-sugarcane expansion not always pushes aside dairy farming. Those farmers that shift to sugarcane are not simply spurred by better prices, but mainly change as result of perceptions of labour constraints, risks and the opportunities offered by diversification. For farmers who totally quit dairy production the shift to sugarcane may pass the point of no return.     

Rapid Reregulation,Agricultural Restructuring,and the Reimaging of Agriculture in New Zealand1

Abstract As a member of the Cairns Group, New Zealand is an excellent case for investigation of the impacts of market-based restructuring and the emergence of new mechanisms for regulation. The paper examines how agriculture in New Zealand has been impacted by economic reforms that have fundamentally changed the nature and interrelations of regulatory arrangements and economic processes. The paper sketches the origins of New Zealand's agricultural crisis and the main features of the reforms, outlines developments in several global commodity chains (meat, dairy, apples) that since the mid 1980s have shaped regulatory and governance adjustments, and explores dimensions of a reimaging of agriculture in new conditions. The paper concludes that agri-food restructuring in New Zealand is implicated in the wider integrative project of globalization. Agriculture's reconstruction reopens the scope and terms under which New Zealand labor and households might be able to participate in the agri-food sector.     

Producing More Milk on Fewer Farms: Neoclassical and Neostructural Explanations of Changes in Dairy Farming1

Neoclassical theory in economics has served as the guiding paradigm for agricultural development in the United States. At one level, this model emphasizes the substitution of capital in the form of machinery and chemicals for land and labor. At another level, the paradigm calls for the introduction of mass production techniques, such as product standardization and the routinization of labor processes. Using data on dairy farms and dairy processors from the 50 states, the neoclassical model accounts for changes in productivity on dairy farms; however, the model is less useful in accounting for changes in dairy farm structure. To explain changes in structure, recent neostructural theory that links the structure of markets to the structure of production is used. It is concluded that persistence of family-size dairy farms may rest more on developing and protecting markets for the milk they produce than with tinkering with the neoclassical model.     

The Neoliberal Food Regime: Neoregulation and the New Division of Labor in North America

We undertake a comparative investigation of how neoliberal restructuring characterizes the third food regime in the three North American countries. By contrasting the experience of the two developed countries of the United States and Canada with that of the developing country of Mexico, we shine some empirical light on the differential impact of neoliberal regulatory restructuring on the division of labor in agriculture within the North American Free Trade Agreement region. In particular, we investigate these countries' agricultural production markets, trade, and food vulnerability—with an emphasis on Mexico—as analytical points for comparing and contrasting their experience with this neoliberal restructuring. We start with a synthesis of food‐regime theory and outline the key features of what we call the “neoliberal food regime.” We then discuss our case‐study countries in terms of food vulnerability and resistance in Mexico, their differential relationships to trade liberalization, and what these trends might mean for the evolution of the neoliberal food regime. We conclude that, while dominant trends are ominous, there is room for an alternative trajectory and consequent reshaping of the emerging regime: sufficient bottom‐up social resistance, primarily at the level of the nation–state, may yet produce an alternative trajectory.     

The structure of consumer confidence in four EEC countries

This paper reports an exploration of the structure of consumer confidence in four of the countries participating in the EEC harmonized consumer attitudes surveys. The analysis is based on two EEC surveys in each of the countries concerned and uses the rotated solutions on the first three factors of the data. It was found that the different countries and surveys had similar factor structures which were interpreted as general economic conditions: personal financial circumstances; household durable buying intentions. The position of price expectations and attitudes to saving within these factor structures is also of interest in the interpretation of consumer behaviour.     

What rural restructuring?

This paper emerges from a growing sense of disquiet over the regularity and often loosely utilised appearance of the concept ‘rural restructuring’ in the literature. The paper examines rural restructuring from two perspectives — as an analytical approach that emphasizes the need for a holistic view of change processes, and as a statement on the character of change in the countryside. The argument put forward is that restructuring ideas have much to commend them as an approach, even if theoretical improvement will require more diversity in ‘starting’ theoretical perspectives and a stronger willingness to engage with other theoretical stances when the weaknesses of a ‘starting’ perspective are revealed. This will entail approaching questions of rural restructuring from a broader range of perspectives than currently dominant visions, which are grounded in political economy. In exploring restructuring ideas as ‘facts’, the paper focuses on England, as this is a country in which rural restructuring is commonly reported to have occurred or be occurring. The paper argues that this vision of the English countryside is too poorly articulated and that support for this vision is far from convincing. It cautions that restructuring processes are less widespread than is often implied. Moreover, there are grounds for seeing restructuring processes are reifying the past, not heralding a new social dynamic.     

Reflexive Accumulation and Global Restructuring: Retailers and Cultural Processes in the Australian Poultry Industry1

Abstract Chicken consumption in Australia resembles that in the U.S., but a comparison of the restructuring of poultry production in both countries shows some significant differences. This finding raises the question of what lies behind the emergence of similar consumption norms when consumption is often explained in terms of production regimes. The article explores the success of Australian producers in rejecting global free trade pressures while acquiescing to supply chain arrangements introduced by supermarkets. It describes how Australian producers have benefitted from two cultural phenomena: the arrival of Kentucky Fried Chicken and a dietary low fat regimen. It argues that an internationalized food service sector—including supermarket and fast-food chains—and western dietary advice are responsible for chicken's popularity in Australia. The theory of reflexive accumulation is used to explain the power of retailers and cultural producers in a food system increasingly dominated by “high value foods.” Further, reflexive accumulation can help to explain both the present restructuring of the Australian poultry complex and the unevenness of agri-food restructuring in general.     

The restructuring process and economic centrality in capitalist agriculture

The purpose of the paper is to examine contemporary relations in agricultural production. The discussion focuses upon the internal and external processes modifying production relations on the farm and, in particular, the changing significance of farm-based sources of income and capital (economic centrality) to the farm business in the restructuring of agricultural capital. There are a variety of reasons why farm businesses are finding it increasingly necessary to diversify their sources of income, and in some cases capital generation, which relate to their internal family relations and external contacts. While obtaining alternative sources of income for farmers may be advocated for the purpose of reducing their marginalisation and low income problems, this may only be realisable for a minority. The complexities of farm businesses and their external relations with other forms of capital suggest the need for a construction of a typology which focuses on the economic centrality of the business to the farm family. The discussion here is divided into four sections. First, the main characteristics of the restructuring process in British agriculture are identified, leading to a discussion focusing on the transformation of the family farm. The concept of economic centrality is then discussed as an important characteristic of the restructuring process affecting British farming, and a typology of farm businesses established, based upon empirical evidence collected from London's Metropolitan Green Belt. This evidence forms part of a wider study of the changing structure of farm businesses in three areas of lowland England (East Bedfordshire, West Dorset and London's Green Belt) which links farm business change to changes in the farm landscape.     

Beyond the Farmgate: Factors Related to Agricultural Performance in Two Dairy Communities1

Abstract This study compares the logic of agricultural production across two dairy farming communities in the Northeast using a measure of agricultural performance as the dependent variable. Both communities have similar farm structural and environmental characteristics, but significantly different levels of agricultural performance. Our analysis indicates that dairy farmers in both communities are following the same basic path toward the optimization of milk production, but achieving quite different results. A comparison of structural factors shows that the high-production community is in a more advantageous position than the low-production community in terms of opportunities for formal education, access to markets, and proximity to an urban center. Acknowledgment of structural differences across agricultural communities is crucial to the development of adequate sociological theory, agricultural policy, and extension programming.     

Commodification of rural places: A narrative of social fields,rural development,and football

One of the most significant recent elements of restructuring in rural areas is the transition from an economy based on agricultural production to an economy based on the countryside as a form of commodity. In this transition process, different narratives or images of an area are produced to promote villages and other places in the countryside as commodities. Much of the literature takes it for granted that outsiders control the processes of branding rural areas, but our case study demonstrates that the producers (as well as potential consumers) of the countryside as a commodity can be insiders within a community. In this paper, we demonstrate how a local football club can take a leading role in the process of commodification of rural places in the post-modern era. Football clubs are presented as commodities to attract investors, sponsors, and expertise from private businesses. In both commodification of rural places and football, the challenge is to construct narratives or images that correspond to the pre-existing expectations of consumers, whoever they might be. Our theory-informed empirical analyses illustrate the way in which the Norwegian football club Sogndal Football has been instrumental in the restructuring of the Sogndal community.     

Governance and Enterprise Restructuring: The Case of Macedonia

This paper is a case study of the Republic of Macedonia (Southeast Europe), which focuses on examining governance and enterprise restructuring. Governance and enterprise restructuring is already defined indicator in EBRD’s studies and transition reports, measuring the effective corporate governance and corporate control exercised through domestic financial institutions and markets, fostering market-driven restructuring. As of the beginning of the transition process, governance and enterprise restructuring remains in the center, as essential pillar, that moves forward the society towards developed market economy. The data used in this article are analyzed with an econometric regression model, which as employed in this study examines the interrelationships between governance and enterprise restructuring and set of policies that influence the governance patterns.     

The historical development of the Mexico City milk supply system: local and global contradictions

In order to help inform interventions in food supply systems, urban areas, and sustainable development, this paper traces the development of the milk supply system to Mexico City. The co-evolution of urban supply and demand factors with policy objectives is dealt with in three distinct periods. (1) The early 20th century in which milk production became an end in itself of cattle raising, with the introduction of new forage crops and the concept of the ‘dairy basin'. (2) The period of the paternalist state is characterised by policy objectives to support Mexican dairy producers and ensure milk supply to the burgeoning urban population. To these ends, there was increasing government intervention in cattle breeding and production systems, distribution and processing of milk, and the importation of powdered milk from international stocks. (3) The neoliberal period included a retreat of the state from quality control enforcement, the inclusion of imported milk the industrialisation process of products for national sale, and concentration of dairy enterprises into fewer hands. While ealier policy objectives have indeed been achieved, three contradictions pose a threat to the systems sustainability: the disarticulation of national supply and demand by means of the financial attractiveness of imported milk stocks; the now minimal contribution of the urban area to its own milk consumption, and the poor quality of industrialised milk products reaching the consumer. It is expected that the system will persist essentially unchanged in the near future, as the various actors involved each act in their own self-interest. Constructive interventions should focus on the contradictions created by the pursual of previous policy approaches, and necessarily address issues of sustainability at various scales.     

Sex,Lies, and Statistics: Can Rural Sociology Survive Restructuring? (or) What Is Right with Rural Sociology and How Can We Fix It1

Abstract Rural Sociology faces increasing threats of marginalization from social and economic restructuring of academia and of the larger society in which it is embedded. Contrary to some recent analyses, the problem lies more in the inadequacies of data conceptualization, production, and collection than in the theoretical vitality of the discipline. The failure to match theoretical and conceptual advances with appropriate data leaves sociologists grappling with “modern data to study a postmodern world.” Research on the impact of restructuring on social and spatial divisions of labor and the contributions of feminist theory and research to the conceptualization of work and household illustrate the theoretical advances and the empirical deficiencies faced by the discipline. Disciplinary survival and development depend on meeting the challenge of matching theoretical progress with an appropriate empirical base.     

The city in the country: Growing alternative food networks in Metropolitan areas

Alternative food networks (AFNs) are commonly defined by attributes such as the spatial proximity between farmers and consumers, the existence of retail venues such as farmers markets, community supported agriculture (CSA) and a commitment to sustainable food production and consumption. Focusing upon processes rather than attributes, this paper identifies two place-based processes that both promote and constrain the emergence and development of AFNs. Urbanization and rural restructuring are critical to the development of AFNs. AFNs are not a “thing” to be described, but rather emerge from political, cultural and historical processes. The interactions of urbanization and rural restructuring produce AFNs that are differentiated and marked by uneven development that does not necessarily support all farmers participating in the network. This indicates both the fragility and the dynamism inherent in AFNs that are tied to metropolitan development and change. Paradoxically, increasing urban demand for seasonal, and organic produce grown ‘close to home’ and the processes of rural restructuring which emphasize small-scale sustainable family farming and its direct food linkages to cities do not necessarily enable all farmers to consistently make a living from season to season. Evidence for these claims comes from an in-depth, qualitative case study reliant upon participant observation, in-depth interviews and draws from a statewide farmer survey and a regional consumer survey in Washington State.     

The new dependency: Technological change and socioeconomic restructuring in Latin America

This article analyzes the implications for the Latin American societies of the ongoing restructuring of the world economy, which is driven by the accelerated application of science and technology to the production process. After a short review of the current developments at the regional level, the article focuses on Mexico and Bolivia. These two extreme cases, ranging from high-technology industries on the United States-Mexico border to the growth of an underground economy based in the production of coca and cocaine, allow the analysis of new forms of dependency that are already constraining the economic adjustment and the democratization process in Latin America.     

Uneven development and the restructuring process in British agriculture: a preliminary exploration

The development of a political economy approach to the understanding of agricultural development still remains in its infancy. This paper explores the significance of uneven development as a central concept with which to unify the approach. In the first part of the paper a set of scales are suggested which provide a framework for coping with uneven development in agriculture, both over space and temporally. Attempts to link theory and evidence are crucial in this process, and in the second part of the paper attention focuses upon the restructuring of British agriculture through an analysis of one such scale of uneven development, that of changes in internal production relations for the period 1970–1985.     

Conversion to Organic Dairy Production in the Netherlands: Opportunities and Constraints*

Abstract Organic agriculture is perceived as being more sustainable than conventional agriculture. However, while there is a growing interest in, and market for, organic products, large‐scale conversion to organic agriculture is not taking place. Even though conversion from conventional to organic dairy production is not especially difficult in theory, conversion is slow in this specific sector. The conversion process to organic agriculture is often analyzed by investigating farmer motivations and attitudes. However, since modern agricultural production is organized in production chains, which are in turn subject to stakeholder influence, a wider focus that includes these interrelationships might provide new insights regarding the lagging conversion. Based on document analysis, policy analysis, and interviews, this article investigates opportunities for, and barriers to, conversion to organic dairy production in the Netherlands within the setting of the chain network. Opportunities and barriers are found at three levels within the chain network: the actor level, the chain level, and the network level. We conclude that, despite some involvement in organic production and a positive disposition toward it, the chain network is not ready for a large‐scale conversion.     

Joining forces,fortunes, and futures: Restructuring and adaptation in nonprofit hospice organizations

Nonprofit organizations operate in tumultuous times characterized by constrained funding, increased competition, and greater demand for social services. Existing bases of intangible and tangible assets often are insufficient to fulfill service missions. These organizations appear to be responding by joining forces and restructuring to better accommodate diminished resources. Relatively little is known about the reorganization strategies being employed. The study described in this chapter examined the phenomenon of organizational restructuring among nonprofit hospice organizations. In particular, it identified the factors that propel nonprofits to pursue restructuring as a strategic solution, the elements that impede such restructuring efforts, and how organizations that pursue and implement restructuring differ from those that do not. The study found that an organization's relative placement along a continuum of political and economic strength is determinative in the outcome of its restructuring efforts. Those that take affirmative steps operate from a position of economic strength and exhibit independence in governance and decision making; those that do not are impeded by internal political factors.     

Selling art to the world in Chelsea

This paper explores the dynamic interaction that occurs between large-scale social processes, urban development and the production of artistic expression and meaning through an analysis of art and urban change in the West Chelsea district of New York City. I begin my analysis with a discussion of specific works of art and expand to the local and global context to which these works respond and help to construct. Both urban space and artistic production, consumption and the social meaning attached to art by artists, critics, audiences and other art world actors have felt the impact of the turn to free market policies and ideology that have attended global economic restructuring and the rapid pace of globalisation. At the same time, art's new role as an engine of urban commerce and the accompanying expansion of the art market have helped to shape city districts like West Chelsea and have left their mark on the work that is exhibited and sold there. My analysis integrates a close study of two works of art exhibited in West Chelsea, interviews and other ethnographic data and recent literature on the arts and urban restructuring and the perspective of critical theory. I also provide photographic documentation of social interaction and the built environment of West Chelsea as it evolved in response to the expansion of the art worlds there. A secondary aim of this research is to contribute to a larger discussion about the social role and critical capacities of art in today's social, economic and political climate.