Independence and individualism: conflated values in farmer cooperation?

Emery, Steven B.

doi:10.1007/s10460-014-9520-8

Cited by 63 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…We know that neoliberalism (in its variety) affects the environment by transforming human relationships to it through commodification (Castree, 2010(Castree, : 1731Heynen et al, 2007); we also know that farmers in many parts of the world expressly value their individual and professional freedom, often referred to as 'autonomy' or independence (Emery, 2015, Gasson, 1973, Mooney, 1988, Stock and Forney, 2014and van der Ploeg, 2008. Can we get a sense of how these two realities are related by comparing farmers' autonomy at higher levels of aggregation?…”

Section: Neoliberalism Autonomy and The Farmed Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…But if we start from the premise that autonomy is the freedom to determine one's own actions and behaviour, then our remit is to explore how the ideological attempts at imposing 'neoliberal autonomy' fare when they come up against a host of alternative interpretations in the cooperative endeavours of farmers in a range of global contexts. For our purposes, 'neoliberal autonomy' is based on the principle of individualism, whereby the individual is a paramount value ( Dumont, 1986: 25), as opposed to ideas such as 'the social whole' and 'collective good' ( Emery, 2015 andLukes, 1973: 2). Actual autonomy, on the other hand, involves collective freedom for farmers as a social class [albeit acknowledging class differentiation within the farming sector] such that individual freedoms are integrally connected to the ongoing reproduction of the farming sector.…”

Section: Neoliberalism and Autonomy On The Farmmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Neoliberal natures on the farm: Farmer autonomy and cooperation in comparative perspective

Stock¹,

Forney²,

Emery³

et al. 2014

Journal of Rural Studies

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This is the peer reviewed version of the article which has been published in final form in the Journal fo Rural Studies at http://dx.doi.org/10. 1016/j.jrurstud.2014.06.001 ©2016. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ HighlightsExplores the relationship between farmer autonomy and environmental outcomes.Compares agricultural cooperatives and cooperation in UK, New Zealand, Switzerland and Brazil.For autonomy to remain a tool to negotiate alternatives then we must continue to prevent the monopolization of its meaning.Actual autonomy can create dialogue to bridge concerns about farmers, livelihood, and environmental outcomes. AbstractThe struggle over autonomy in farming is emblematic of the philosophical and practical tensions inherent in solving multi-scalar environmental issues. We explore the multiplicities of autonomy through comparative case studies of agricultural cooperation in England, Switzerland, New Zealand, and Brazil, which allow consideration of the implications of a range of approaches to managing farmed environments under different variations of neoliberalism. The original data emerge from separate projects examining aspects of cooperative autonomy in relation to the effects of the neoliberalisation of nature in agriculture. The comparative examination of autonomy and cooperation across distinct agri-food contexts highlights diversity in the social, ecological and economic outcomes of alternative forms of agri-environmental governance. This analysis provides a sobering corrective to both the over-romanticization of cooperation across global peasant movements and the over-romanticization of the individual entrepreneur in agro-industrial and family farming sectors. Our examination highlights the need for greater attention to the relationships between actors at and across different scales (the farm level, organizations and communities, the state, and industry) to understand how, in contrasting contexts of neoliberalisation, alternative conceptions of autonomy serve to mediate particular interventions and their material environmental consequences. A focus on actual autonomy, via the peasant principle and territorial cooperatives, creates an opening in theoretical and political dialogue to bridge concerns about farmers, livelihoods, and environmental outcomes.

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Section: Neoliberalism Autonomy and The Farmed Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Neoliberalism and Autonomy On The Farmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neoliberal natures on the farm: Farmer autonomy and cooperation in comparative perspective

Stock¹,

Forney²,

Emery³

et al. 2014

Journal of Rural Studies

Self Cite

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“…While it is not easy to accurately assess this, from prior evidence we can ascertain that JFVs enable family farmers to pursue individualised preferences on-and off-farm while also enhancing the resilience of the family farm through reconstituted relationships that foster the collective as well as the individual. Rather than presenting a barrier to the adoption of JFVs as suggested by Emery (2015), perhaps the increasing desire for satisfying individual needs will make JFVs and formal cooperation more appealing.…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The consequences of this for agriculture are quite clearly expounded by Emery (2015), who, referring to the UK context, illustrates how capitalist ideology tends to convince farmers that their survival, freedom and independence is achieved through individualism, with neighbouring farmers increasingly viewed as natural competitors. Emery, (2015) discusses how cooperative patterns of resilience in agriculture tend to become mystified under capitalist ideology and viewed with a sense of suspicion and mistrust.…”

Section: Individualismmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Potential for Joint Farming Ventures in Irish Agriculture: A Sociological Review

Cush

Macken‐Walsh

2016

European Countryside

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Joint farming ventures (JFVs) are promoted within Irish and EU policy discourses as strategies that can enhance the economic and social sustainability of family farming.Research has shown that JFVs, including arrangements such as farm partnerships, contract rearing and share farming, can potentially enable farmers to work cooperatively to improve farm productivity, reduce working hours, facilitate succession, develop skills and improve relationships within the farm household. In the context of increasing policy promotion of JFVs, there is a need to make some attempt at understanding the macro socio-cultural disposition of family farming to cooperation. Reviewing sociological studies of agricultural cooperation and taking a specific focus on the Irish contextual backdrop, this paper draws the reader's attention to the importance of historical legacy, pragmatic economic and social concerns, communicative norms, inter-personal relationships, individualism and, policy and extension stimuli, all of which shape farmers' dispositions to cooperation and to JFVs specifically.

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“…The nuanced subtleties of language, values and ideology are not our primary concern here (see Emery, 2010;2014;2015). Instead, we are interested to explore how these values come to figure rhetorically and politically on account of their having normative appeal beyond the farming community of the North York Moors.…”

Section: From the Phenomenological To The Political In The Farmed Lanmentioning

confidence: 99%

From lived experience to political representation: Rhetoric and landscape in the North York Moors

Emery

Carrithers

2016

Ethnography

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Approaches to landscape are characterized by an unresolved distinction between political representation on the one hand and phenomenology on the other. In this paper we address this distinction by demonstrating how those living in close quarters with landscape (farmers) translate their lived experience into political representation. Through the use of rhetoric culture theory we show how farmers use narrative and symbolism to stake their political claims. Moreover, we argue that a focus on lived experience should not deprive our ethnographic encounters of political significance. On the contrary, we demonstrate how by focusing on the lived experience of farmers we can better appreciate how they are motivated to act politically, have the skills to act politically, and gain political legitimacy in the eyes of others. We argue that whilst phenomenological approaches provide fertile grounds for political analysis, the majority of such research remains politically empty. We demonstrate how, contrary to much of the literature, farmers can and do aesthetically fix the landscape for rhetorical effect, and how narrative as rhetorical representation always already serves to politicize time. We suggest rhetoric, therefore, as an appropriate conceptual tool for mediating and advancing our understanding of the relationship between landscape experience and landscape politics.

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Independence and individualism: conflated values in farmer cooperation?

Cited by 63 publications

References 30 publications

Neoliberal natures on the farm: Farmer autonomy and cooperation in comparative perspective

Neoliberal natures on the farm: Farmer autonomy and cooperation in comparative perspective

The Potential for Joint Farming Ventures in Irish Agriculture: A Sociological Review

From lived experience to political representation: Rhetoric and landscape in the North York Moors

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