Shifting values in agriculture: the farm family and pollution regulation1

It has long been acknowledged that the notion of family continuity of farm occupation through succession is one of the central tenets of the ethos of ‘family’ farming, but recent evidence suggests that it is being called into question by family members. Farming practices are being pursued in a rapidly changing world, an important feature of which is a greater level of public and political concern for protecting the rural environment. This paper examines a range of new influences affecting farming practice and environmental consciousness and the implications these have for farming values, particularly that of family succession. Using evidence from a study of dairy farm families and pollution regulation in Devon in South West England, it suggests that rural social change is providing new routes through which environmental values can flow through farm households, influencing the ways farmers understand the environmental implications of their practices, and the ways they and their families think about their long-term futures.     

Multiculturalism and Cultural Issues in Online Gaming Communities

This article looks at racism, nationalism, and culture wars within multicultural Internet communities, specifically looking at Omerta, an international mafia‐themed text‐based massively multiplayer online role‐playing game (MMORPG). Omerta allows players to live and create a world of their own where groups of players, called families, interact and work together in peace and war. The text‐based aspect leads the majority of play dealing with negotiations in multi‐user chat (Internet Relay Chat), with the focus being on diplomacy and negotiation. Within the Omerta game, players of Turkish nationality have been refused admission into some families due to the perception that their primary loyalties are to other members of their own nationality, rather than members of their current family. This has led to much turmoil within the community and the creation of “Turkish Alliances”— families consisting of only Turkish players due to the lack of recruiting from other nationalities. What does this say about the functionality of multiculturalism and the possibility for success?     

Intergenerational Coresidence Among Small Farmers in Brazilian Amazônia

This article examines intergenerational coresidence among rural farm families near Santarém, Pará, Brazil using survey data collected by the authors on 896 children whose parents live in 175 households on 150 farms. Married adult children, daughters, and the best educated are more likely to live off their parents’ rural property (vs. on the property). Results support arguments that coresidence results from the interests of children rather than the control that parents exert over children. These results have implications for our understanding of intergenerational relations in the developing world and for the future development of similar areas.     

Rural Women and Decision Making: Women's Role in Resource Management During Rural Restructuring1

Abstract The intense, uneven, and often contradictory processes of agricultural restructuring impact upon the family farm in ways that are gendered. Those impacts may create, reproduce, or exacerbate contradictions within the farm family. We interviewed farm women about the decision making structure of families on Australian cereal properties and about land use and resource management strategies. Key informants working in government, agriculture, and management were asked about effects of restructuring on farm women and their role in resource management on the family farm. Different patterns were found: most decision making structures remain sex segregated, with women making more decisions about “inside” and men about “outside” resource management issues; shared decision responsibility was greater than expected. Farm women have views about farming, soil conservation, and the environment that have an influence on strategic planning in the sector whether they maintain their traditional family position or increase their agency and visibility.     

Children and the Modern Farming Movement

In the twenty‐first century, a small percentage of U.S. children have ties to family‐based agriculture. Yet with the rise of the modern farming movement that emphasizes local and family‐based production, new spaces may exist for involving children and youth in farming. This article focuses on the social value of children to family‐based agriculture in the contemporary era. Drawing on a qualitative study of families that farm in the capital region of New York—an epicenter for the modern food movement—we consider why families farm, how they involve children in their farms, and how they understand children's contributions. Interviews with 76 adult members of 50 families show children to be central to families' goals; they often rationalize farming as a lifestyle choice undertaken for the benefit of their children. Families also actively involve their own children—and other people's children—in their farms. By documenting the way families talk about children and farming, we shed light on the logic used to incorporate children into modern productive enterprises. The centrality of children, we argue, helps explain the success of the modern food movement and the persistence of family‐based agriculture despite conditions that make it economically difficult to accomplish.     

Children and Power in Mexican Transnational Families

Today, many families find that they are unable to fulfill the goal of maintaining a household by living together under the same roof. Some members migrate internationally. This article addresses the consequences of a transnational lifestyle for children who are left behind by migrant parents. Using ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with a total of 141 members of Mexican transnational families, I explore how children who are left behind react to parents’ migrations. I focus on how Mexican children manifest the competing pressures they feel surrounding parents’ migrations and consequently shape family migration patterns. The article shows that children may experience power, albeit in different ways at different ages, while simultaneously being disadvantaged as dependents and in terms of their families’ socioeconomic status.     

Farm persistence and adaptation at the rural–urban interface: Succession and farm adjustment

Despite assumptions that agriculture will automatically go into a mode of decline at the Rural Urban Interface (RUI), official statistics suggest that agriculture as a whole remains a strong (and in some cases a growing) industry in many U.S. RUI counties. RUI scholars have acknowledged internal family dynamics can significantly influence farm persistence and adaptation strategies, however, few studies have sought to document the specific role succession has on farm structure at the RUI. Building off rural geography models of farm organization at the RUI and succession research embedded in rural studies we analyze interviews from 33 U.S. farm families to 1) explore the relationship between farm adaptation and succession at the RUI, and 2) examine how succession is related to the different types of enterprises found at the RUI (direct marketers vs. commodity producers) and the types of growth strategies these farm families implement. We find that families who can not identify an heir either disinvest or enter a static management mode. Among farm families who can identify an heir we identify a variety of horizontal and vertical growth strategies (expanding, intensifying, and entrepreneurial stacking) designed to achieve farm reproduction goals. We discuss the theoretical and policy related implications of this research.     

The genealogical imagination: the inheritance of interracial identities

The aim of this article is to examine ethnographically how ideas of descent, biology and culture mediate ideas about the inheritance of racial identities. To do this, the article draws upon interviews with the members of interracial families from Leicester, a city situated in the East Midlands region of England. The article focuses upon the genealogical narratives of the female members of interracial families who live in an ethnically diverse inner‐city area of Leicester. Attention is paid to the ways in which the women mobilise and intersect ideas about kinship, ancestry, descent, belonging, place, biology and culture when they think about the inheritance of their own and/or their children's interracial identities. The article's emphasis upon the constitution of interracial identities contributes to the sociological study of race and genealogy by exploring the racialised fragmentation of ideas of inheritance and descent across racial categories and generations.     

The redefinition of family farming: agricultural restructuring and farm adjustment in Waihemo, New Zealand

The process of agricultural restructuring embarked upon by the New Zealand government in the mid-1980s precipitated a period of financial hardship for many of the nation's farmers. It was not uncommon for families to adapt major adjustment strategies in order to maintain the viability of their enterprise at this time. Drawing upon a detailed case study of farm-level responses in a small rural locality, this paper argues that farm adjustments employed during and since this period have altered the character of family farming in the area in fundamental ways. Such change has been evident in the increasing heterogeneity of farm structure, and the alteration of farming goals and household labour arrangements, together with the evolution of local cultural norms. These transformations not only raise important questions about the future structure and sustainability of family farming in the area, but also inspire a conceptual reconsideration of the family farm unit as traditional linkages between the farm enterprise, household and property are weakened.     

Inheritance Law in an Aging Society

An exploratory analysis of states' inheritance law changes between 1961 and 1990 was conducted in order to discern major trends and their implications for older families. Results suggested that states were modifying their laws in ways similar to suggestions of the law community's Uniform Probate Code, with about one third of the states adopting the Code itself. Consequently, inheritance law has become less traditional and paternalistic and more like "facilitative law," that is, flexible, accommodating, and supportive of family autonomy and decisionmaking authority. These changes and new laws that simplify procedures, protect the dependent and vulnerable, treat marital property more like community property, recognize variant family forms, and enable extrafamilial bequests, may serve to minimize family disruption, conserve resources, and allow families to tailor property divisions and procedures to particular needs and wishes. An impact study is proposed for disclosing the actual effects of inheritance law reforms. Also, while trends observed in this study were fairly evident, states' adoption of new laws was uneven and selective, inviting continuing trend analyses and further research into the reasons for interstate variation.     

The Effects of Metropolitan Residence on the Off-Farm Earnings of Farm Families in the United States1

Abstract Previous research on the effects of urbanization on farming and farm families has focused on the consequences of urban expansion on farming practice rather than on the well-being of farm families. Proximity to urban areas has been found to alter the way farm families utilize the nonfarm labor market. In this study, the off-farm earnings of husbands and wives in farm families are compared across metropolitan (metro) and nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) areas using data from the March supplement to the 1989 Current Population Survey. Censored regression models (tobit) and decomposition are used to demonstrate the effects of nonfarm labor market differences on off-farm labor force participation and earnings. The analysis reveals that farm family members, as expected, have significantly higher rates of participation and earnings in metropolitan areas. But this analysis also reveals that increases in off-farm participation are likely to have a larger effect on total off-farm earnings in nonmetropolitan areas than returns to those already working off-farm. The potential for increases in off-farm earnings will be underestimated in nonmetro areas when changes in participation in the off-farm labor market are not taken into account.     

When Work and Family Merge: Understanding Intragroup Conflict Experiences in Family Farm Businesses

Family farms represent a huge portion of agriculture in the United States today. These family farms may struggle to balance both family relationships and business concerns, which can cause conflict among members. Some of this conflict may be derived from the independent, self-reliant nature of family farmers. These characteristics may influence how family farm members are able to deal with conflict, and how they choose to communicate during conflict interactions. This project used intragroup conflict theory and family communication patterns to explore the impact of everyday conflict on job satisfaction, communication satisfaction, and profitability in family farm businesses. Survey data were collected from family farm members (N = 204). The results of structural equation modeling showed conversation and conformity orientation significantly predicted relational, process, and status conflict in the model, yet only status conflict significantly predicted communication satisfaction. These findings suggested family farm members struggle with communication, which influences status conflict experiences and communication satisfaction.     

Hidden Spaces of Resistance of the Subordinated: Case Studies from Vietnamese Female Migrant Partners in Taiwan1

This paper explores how contradictory social structures influence power relations between “Vietnamese brides” and their Taiwanese family members. By analyzing two aspects of interaction between “Vietnamese brides” and their husbands’ families, i.e., how the families require them to integrate into Taiwanese society and what strategies they employ to escape from these constraints, we argue that contradictory social relations together with commodified marriage and liminality help them to develop strategies of escape into the “hidden space.” The development of these strategies indicates one thing: hegemony is never fully achieved – it is always negotiated and contested.     

Media and Families: Looking Ahead

Digital natives and digital immigrants live and grow together navigating a world of media devices and inventing new media practices. As such, it is increasingly important to know about the role of media in the lives of families. Although much is known about the impact of media on children as individuals, far less attention has been given to the impact of media on the family as a whole. A great deal of the research on the family and media focuses on parent-child interactions, relationships, and media practices. While parenting is a key element in family life, other members of the family contribute to family practices and interactions, particularly siblings. This article proposes future directions for research about media and families, turning attention to expanding parenting research beyond media mediation, employment of more observational and ethnographic studies of families and media, and exploring media uses with siblings which continues to be an area of limited focus within the field. Moreover, future research should examine families with different lived experiences both in how their media practices and how they are portrayed within the media. Through research, scholars can serve families as media mentors—supporting families in their media practices in an informed way. We have the ability to be excellent media mentors to families and a key component of that is to continue to find answers to questions for families through research.     

Coordination Tasks and Negotiation Modes of Linked Lives in Entrepreneurial Families

The overlap of business and family roles, and how they are linked in entrepreneurial families, requires intergenerational negotiation. Biographical case reconstruction analysis of 32 narrative interviews of 12 German entrepreneurial families explores what coordination tasks need to be resolved and how family members negotiate their interlocking lives. The article finds that entrepreneurial families actively coordinate positions, life phases, and material transfers by means of a pedagogy of succession, life course evidence analysis, and entrepreneurial narratives. The article presents two innovations. First, it demonstrates how these families experience and cope with their linked lives under flexible working conditions and in multigenerational families. Second, it argues that research on linked lives should shift from focusing on outcomes to understanding emergence and operations, and it advances the use of the biographical case reconstruction method for this endeavor.     

Inheritance law in an aging society

An exploratory analysis of states' inheritance law changes between 1961 and 1990 was conducted in order to discern major trends and their implications for older families. Results suggested that states were modifying their laws in ways similar to suggestions of the law community's Uniform Probate Code, with about one third of the states adopting the Code itself. Consequently, inheritance law has become less traditional and paternalistic and more like "facilitative law," that is, flexible, accommodating, and supportive of family autonomy and decisionmaking authority. These changes and new laws that simplify procedures, protect the dependent and vulnerable, treat marital property more like community property, recognize variant family forms, and enable extrafamilial bequests, may serve to minimize family disruption, conserve resources, and allow families to tailor property divisions and procedures to particular needs and wishes. An impact study is proposed for disclosing the actual effects on inheritance law reforms. Also, while trends observed in this study were fairly evident, states' adoption of new laws was uneven and selective, inviting continuing trend analyses and further research into the reasons for interstate variation.     

Family Risk and Resilience in the Context of War and Terrorism

War and terrorism are exerting increasing force on world affairs, with growing implications for families and the scholars who study them. In this review, I consider the implications of mass violence for families, with particular emphasis on families with members serving in the U.S. military and families around the world who live where mass violence occurs. Mass violence poses significant threats to mental health and family functioning, but individuals and families also display striking levels of resilience.     

“Tractorettes” or Partners? Farmers' Views on Women in Kansas Farming Households

In the United States, for various reasons, fewer farm families rely solely on their farming operations for their livelihoods. As the structure of agriculture changes and farm families adjust their livelihood strategies, do the discourses around gender relations in households also change? This article analyzes the portrayal of women's roles in farming households by drawing on interviews with Kansas field crop farmers, primarily regarding their land‐use decisions, but also inquiring about their farms and communities. The article addresses the following question: How do farmers' discourses compare to Brandth's (2002a) categorizations of three dominant discourses in the literature on gender in European family farming—the discourse of the family farm, the discourse of masculinization, and the discourse of detraditionalization and diversity? While Brandth finds the discourse of the family farm prevalent in the literature, overall, the discourse apparent from 30 farmer interviews is more characteristic of detraditionalization and diversity. Although men are primarily the principal operators in farming, overall, women were not portrayed simply as helpers. Rather, their roles are depicted as diverse and important to farm operations.     

关于发展家庭农场的对策研究

家庭农场与种养大户、农民合作社、农业产业化龙头企业都是农业经营主体,但这些经营主体功能不同、各有优势,它们是互补关系,而非取代关系。上海市松江区和吉林省延边州的家庭农场在我国具有典型意义。松江区、延边州为了避免在工业化、城镇化快速推进过程中,可能出现农业被边缘化、农地粗放经营等问题,探索发展了家庭农场。目前,各地发展家庭农场的积极性很高,但认识上还存在一些误区,这些认识如得不到及时澄清,可能使家庭农场培育偏离健康发展的轨道。     

Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual,and Transgender Families

This article reviews new scholarship on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender families. The past decade witnessed rapid expansion of data and strong research designs. The most notable advance was in studies on variation among mostly planned lesbian comother families. Cumulative evidence suggests that although many of these families have comparatively high levels of shared labor and parental investment, they may not be as “genderless” as previously depicted. Gay men's diverse paths to family formation and planned parenthood have also been explored, but almost no research studies their children's experiences. Conceptualizations of sexual orientation expanded to include bisexuals and others, and some understanding of the experiences of transgender people has begun to emerge. Future work should explore relationships among members of the families they create.