The multi-dimensionality of value landscapes

Valuation in Rural Social Innovation Processes—Analysing Micro-Impact of a Collaborative Community in Southern Italy

“…Our results contribute to identifying valuation phases that exemplify the collaborative nature of valuation. One first result underlines an overarching valuation context [53] in which different valuation phases take place. These phases address, in fact, a continuous reflection, debate and negotiation about the dominant rural development paradigm: This context provides motivation to search for (valuable) alternative models to established routines and practices behind the development of rural marginal places, beyond those related to agricultural food production and consumption.…”

“…As Kaiser [53] points out, values may 'be more or less hidden from our consciousness and come to live only in specific conflict situations or dilemmas' (p. 6). Since values are neither universal nor fixed in meaning, social actors may utilise and implement different values or may emphasise value differently in different situations: 'The context makes it also easier for participants to evoke the values they deem relevant' [53] (p. 7).…”

“…As Kaiser [53] points out, values may 'be more or less hidden from our consciousness and come to live only in specific conflict situations or dilemmas' (p. 6). Since values are neither universal nor fixed in meaning, social actors may utilise and implement different values or may emphasise value differently in different situations: 'The context makes it also easier for participants to evoke the values they deem relevant' [53] (p. 7). Furthermore, although values may exhibit a certain inertia before being changed or adjusted, they can eventually develop over time, in particular, by interacting against a background of different value systems, beliefs, or registers of worth.…”

“…Its meaning may become understandable only if embedded in a particular context. Therefore, reconstructing valuation processes necessarily requires methodological pluralism [53], an approach on which we draw in our research design.…”

“…In order to be able to handle this complexity, we follow Kaiser's [53] suggestion to focus on a single context-in our case, a southern Italian rural region. Implementing a single case study design [54], we focus on ongoing social innovation dynamics in this selected rural region to identify and reconstruct valuation moments and processes [46] and their contribution to socio-cultural community development.…”