Rural Sociology Commons^™

Comparing Local Models Of Agrarian Transition In China, Qian Forrest Zhang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The development of markets and the penetration of capital into agriculture have started the agrarian transition in rural China, which is transforming smallholding, household-based agriculture into various forms of capitalistic production. This again raises in a new historical and social context the long-debated question in the agrarian transition literature: Can family farms survive the onslaught of capitalist agriculture based on wage labor and what shapes the confrontation between family farms and agro-capital? I argue that it is the local political economy—rather than some natural obstacles in agriculture to the penetration of capitalism—that shapes this confrontation and gives rise to a …

An Exploration Of The Motivations Behind Committee Membership In Food Networks, Denise O'Leary, Mary Rose Stafford

Conference papers

Food Tourism has been recognised as a fast growing niche area where Ireland can gain competitive advantage. In recognition of the importance of collaboration among diverse stakeholders in the development of food tourism, networks have been identified as essential. This article presents findings from research conducted with three networks and reveals the motivations for committee membership. Data was gathered in 2012 through participant observation and interviews with steering committee members on three food networks using an action research approach.

A framework for examining motivations for collaboration is offered in this article which will contribute to effective network management. Motivations are …

A More Perfect Commodity: Bottled Water, Global Accumulation, And Local Contestation, Daniel Jaffee, Soren Newman

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Bottled water sits at the intersection of debates regarding the social and environmental effects of the commodification of nature and the ways neoliberal globalization alters the provision of public services. Utilizing Polanyi's concept of fictitious commodities and Harvey's work on accumulation by dispossession, this article traces bottled water's transformation from elite niche item to a product consumed by three fourths of U.S. households. Drawing on ethnographic research with participants in two cases of proposed spring water extraction from rural communities by industry leader Nestlé Waters, we make two principal arguments. First, the case of bottled water necessitates a reevaluation of …

A Portrait Of Rural Health In America, Jin Young Choi

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

introduction to special issue

Partnering To Enable Active Rural Living: Pearl Project, Deborah H. John, Barbara Mccahan, Suzanne Gaulocher

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Rural residents in communities face opportunities and obstaclesfor physical activity (PA), health, and wellbeing that differ from those experienced in non-rural settings. Yet, rural people’s interpretations of PA and experience of the PA environment are understudied. This study utilized a descriptive case study approach in three rural New Hampshire communities and engaged rural residents in community participatory action research of the experiential factors that enable or prevent PA for adults and youth in their communities. Qualitative data were collected using photo mapping surveys, participant observations, interviews, and focus groups, analyzed using a constant comparative method, and triangulated across multiple sources. …

A Demographic Analysis Of Metro/Nonmetro Differences In Adult Normal Weight, Overweight, And Obesity, P. Johnelle Sparks, Susanne Schmidt

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Overweight and obesity prevalence is increasing throughout the United States, and these two health conditions seem to disproportionately affect certain segments of the adult population. To date little research has examined adult differences in normal weight, overweight, and obesity by metropolitan or nonmetropolitan residential status while controlling for important demographic, socioeconomic, behavioral, and health status characteristics. This research helps to fill this gap. We used data from the 2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to empirically assess predictors of overweight and obesity risk for all adults and then by residential location. Multinomial logistic regression techniques were used to estimate …

Ruptured Identity Of Male Farmers: Subjective Crisis And The Risk Of Suicide, Anthony Hogan, Edward Scarr, Stewart Lockie, Brett Chant, Sylvia Alston

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Suicide among male farmers is frequently discussed in the literature. While a wide range of factors are associated, a coherent theoretical framework that incorporates the various factors associated with male farmer suicide has not been developed. Moreover, the insights offered to date have not opened a more systemic approach to prevention. Drawing on substantive contributions from sociological theory, this paper proposes a framework for progressing understanding of the causes of this phenomenon and offers insights for prevention. The paper argues that ontological security is central to identity and social competence, and that loss of the coherency of identity and the …

The School Neighborhood Environment For Childhood Obesity In A Rural Texas Community, Jin Young Choi, David Pate

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

This paper examines the school neighborhood environments related to childhood obesity in a rural community in Texas, focusing on the assessment of three aspects: socioeconomic characteristics, food environment, and physical activity environment. Different methodological approaches were employed to characterize the aspects of the school neighborhood environments. Most public schools in the community were located in low-income neighborhoods. There were disproportionately high concentrations of fast food restaurants and convenience stores within the active travel-to-school zone. Most of the students who lived in the active travel-to-school zone did not walk or bike to school, and student safety was identified as the predominant …

Assessing Barriers To Health Care Services For Hispanic Residents In Rural Georgia, Michele Vitale, Conner Bailey

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Since the 1990s, many Hispanics have been relocating to the rural South and their permanency (although beneficial to the economy) poses new challenges at the institutional level. One area of major concern is the adequate provision of health care. Our article evaluates the socioeconomic, cultural, and geographic/transportation barriers that Hispanic residents face when seeking primary health care services in Toombs County, Georgia. Data were acquired through personal interviews with Hispanic residents, local health professionals, and key community informants by using a combination of opportunity sampling and a snowball approach. Results indicate that the local health system and the county as …

Rural Appalachian Health Care Providers' Perceived Barriers To Intimate Partner Violence Screening In Primary Care, Jamie Tedder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a major problem in the United States. There are many health concerns associated with IPV (e.g. chronic pain, gynecological problems), leading researchers to examine the detection and management of IPV in primary care settings. However, a disproportionate amount of this research has focused on the detection and management of IPV in urban primary care clinics, with the detection and management of IPV in rural primary care being largely understudied. The current study addresses this gap in the literature by describing the screening practices and barriers to screening reported by rural providers as well as differences …

The Russian Village, Urban Infrastructure Issues, And The Vertically Integrated Agriculture Model, Phillip Imel

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Russia’s population total has been in decline since 1992 and this is most evident in the villages of Russia. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the large farm collectives, many villages’ raison d'être ceased to exist. Today people continue to leave the villages for what they consider to be the better economic promise of the larger cities. There are serious societal and infrastructure issues related to the village exodus to the larger municipalities. In this paper, a vertically integrated agriculture model is examined as one step towards a more vibrant village economy. A vertically integrated model based upon …

Coös County Youth And Out-Of-School Activities - Patterns Of Involvement And Barriers To Participation, Erin H. Sharp

Carsey Publications

This fact sheet draws from surveys administered to a cohort of 416 participants in 7th grade in 2008, again when they were in 8th grade in 2009, and most recently as 10th graders in 2011 to look at patterns of participation in structured activities over time and whether male and female students differ in these patterns of participa¬tion. It also draws from questions added to the 2011 survey of 10th graders to examine Coös County youths’ perceptions about what kinds of barriers have kept them from getting more involved in structured out-of-school activities.

Author Erin Hiley Sharp reports that female …

Underemployment In Urban And Rural America, 2005-2012, Justin R. Young

Carsey Publications

Author Justin Young reports that underemployment (or involuntary part-time work) rates doubled during the second year of the recession, reaching roughly 6.5 percent in 2009. This increase was equally steep in both rural and urban places. By March of 2012, underemployment was slightly lower in rural places (4.8 percent) compared to urban places (5.3 percent). Prior to the recession, however, underemployment was slightly higher in rural America. Workers under age 30, as well as women, black, and Hispanic workers, continue to experience higher levels of underemployment. Underemployment is strongly linked with education, with the least educated workers experiencing higher rates …

Empowering Change: The Effects Of Energy Provision On Individual Aspirations In Slum Communities, Priti Parikh, Sankalp Chaturvedi, Gerard George

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper discusses the role of energy provision in influencing the social aspirations of people living in slums. We examine factors that influence the shift in aspirations in five slum settlements using data from 500 interviews conducted in serviced and non-serviced slums from the state of Gujarat in India. The non-serviced slums did not have access to basic services namely water, sanitation, energy, roads, solid waste and rainwater management. We find empirical evidence which suggests that when basic infrastructure provisions are met, slum dwellers shift their focus from lower order aspirations to the higher order aspirations like health, education, housing …

It Takes A Community: Civic Life And Community Involvement Among Coös County Youth, Justin R. Young

Carsey Publications

This brief explores the extent to which Coös County youth are involved in a variety of civic-related activities, with particular attention to the demographic and attitudinal factors associated with such participation. Author Justin Young reports that approximately 75 percent of Coös County youth report involvement in at least one type of civic-related activity. The types of activities varied by year in school. Eighth grad¬ers were more involved in 4-H, Scouts, church groups, and community center events, while twelfth graders volunteered more often and participated in community-service clubs. Forty percent of youth volunteered within the past year, and a third are …

Is It Really Just All About Sex And Money? A Case Study Of Teenage Motherhood In The Village Of Kwaximba In The Valley Of A 1,000 Hills, Margaret Nelson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The aim of this learnership at the Valley Trust was to gain insight into why teenage girls in the Valley of the 1,000 Hills fall pregnant and what is the cost of early motherhood on the future of young women. Previous research of the province KwaZulu-Natal has revealed that teenage pregnancies are a large problem in school districts and restricting the future academic pursuits of teenage mothers. The learner worked alongside the Valley Trust in coordination with their outreach programs in the local villages of the Valley of a 1,000 Hills to learn fundamental and underlying reasons behind teenage pregnancy …

Changing The Very Fabric Of Society: A Case Study Of The Fundación Entre Mujeres Holistic Empowerment Model, Briana Frenchmore

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The women of rural northern Nicaragua live in a context that is shaped by the inequalities of gender and class that originate in machista culture and the dominant economic system. To confront this reality, the non-government organization, Fundación Entre Mujeres (FEM) works from the “Gender and Development” (GAD) approach using a model of holistic women’s empowerment. To create social change, FEM’s programs focus on ideological, economic, and organizational empowerment. This investigation seeks to understand how FEM carries out its holistic empowerment model within communities, while reflecting on the strengths of their methodology and the challenges they face in creating social …

Youths' Opinions About Their Opportunities For Success In Coös County Communities, Erin H. Sharp

Carsey Publications

This fact sheet examines Coös County youths’ beliefs about their access to educational and occupational opportunities in their home communities and whether these beliefs relate to their expectations for the future. To do so, author Erin Hiley Sharp draws on the Coös Youth Study data collected in 2011 from 318 eleventh graders in the public schools. Overall, Coös County youths’ opinions about the educational and occupational opportunities available in their home communities are somewhat positive but youths do perceive areas of concern. Youths’ perceptions of opportunities are fairly similar across the three regions of Coös County; however, those youths living …

Over Sixteen Million Children In Poverty In 2011, Marybeth J. Mattingly, Jessica A. Bean, Andrew P. Schaefer

Carsey Publications

In this brief, authors Marybeth Mattingly, Jessica Bean, and Andrew Schaefer use American Community Survey data released on September 20, 2012 to address patterns of child poverty. To evaluate the changes in child poverty, they focused on two time periods -- change since 2007, as the nation entered the recession, and change since 2010. According to the American Community Survey, the overall child poverty rate for the United States rose slightly from 21.6 in 2010 to 22.5 percent in 2011, resulting in an estimated 16.4 million children living in poverty. Of these children, 6.1 million are young (under age 6). …

Insider, Outsider, Or Somewhere Between: The Impact Of Researchers’ Identities On The Community-Based Research Process, Katie Kerstetter

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Sociologists and qualitative researchers have engaged in an extensive debate about the merits of researchers being “outsiders” or “insiders” to the communities they study. Recent research has attempted to move beyond a strict outsider/insider dichotomy to emphasize the relative nature of researchers' identities, depending on the specific research context. Using the Institute for Community-Based Research in Mississippi as a case study, this article presents findings from qualitative interviews with academic researchers and community partners involved in four different research projects. These findings examine how researchers and community partners characterize researchers’ identities and the impact that those identities have on the …