Farmer autonomy and the farming self

Stock, Paul V.; Forney, Jérémie (2014). Farmer autonomy and the farming self Journal of Rural Studies, 36, pp. 160-171. Elsevier 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2014.07.004

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Drawing on interviews in Switzerland and New Zealand, we explore the concept of autonomy as part of a farming self. The farming self encompasses the dialectical relationship of autonomy as both value and tool that help us understand farmers within a wider set of economic, environmental and interpersonal relations. Farmers describe autonomy as a value in three related but slightly different ways. First, autonomy invokes a particular lifestyle connected to farming. Second, autonomy is understood as the equivalent of being one's own boss. Third, farmers describe autonomy negatively by enumerating the constraints that limit the first two iterations of autonomy in their farming operations. Beyond the value of autonomy for farmer identity, the farming self captures autonomy as a tool: a tool of identification, a tool to mitigate, navigate and translate the experiences of being a farmer in a wider network of agricultural relations.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences HAFL > Resource-efficient agricultural production systems School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences HAFL > Agriculture
Name:	Stock, Paul V. and Forney, Jérémie
Subjects:	S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General)
ISSN:	07430167
Publisher:	Elsevier
Language:	English
Submitter:	Simon Lutz
Date Deposited:	29 Oct 2019 12:10
Last Modified:	29 Oct 2019 12:10
Publisher DOI:	10.1016/j.jrurstud.2014.07.004
ARBOR DOI:	10.24451/arbor.8359
URI:	https://arbor.bfh.ch/id/eprint/8359