《Journal of Rural Studies》2022年第91卷目录及摘要
全文链接：
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-rural-studies/vol/91/suppl/C
Poverty Stories of rural households in China: The case of North Jiangsu
Shuangshuang Tang, Harry F. Lee, Xu Huang, Jing Zhou
Regional variations in automation job risk and labour market thickness to agricultural employment
Richard Henry Rijnks, Frank Crowley, Justin Doran
How close do you like your coffee? - Examining proximity and its effects in relationship coffee models
Hanna Edelmann, Xiomara F. Quiñones-Ruiz, Marianne Penker
Rural development pressure and “three-stay” response: A case of Jinchang City in the Hexi Corridor, China
Libang Ma, Haojian Dou, Shanshan Wu, Zhihao Shi, Ziyan Li
To participate, or not to participate – That is the question. (Non-)participation of older residents in rural communities
Franziska Lengerer, Annett Steinführer, Tialda Haartsen
Evolution of cultivated land fragmentation and its driving mechanism in rural development: A case study of Jiangsu Province
Jing Liu, Xiaobin Jin, Weiyi Xu, Yinkang Zhou
Rural outmigration in Northeast Brazil: Evidence from shared socioeconomic pathways and climate change scenarios
Linda Márcia Mendes Delazeri, Dênis Antônio Da Cunha, Paolo Miguel Manalang Vicerra, Lais Rosa Oliveira
How rural financial credit affects family farm operating performance: An empirical investigation from rural China
Zhigang Chen, Qianyue Meng, Rongwei Xu, Xibao Guo, Chen Cai
Regionalisation and general practitioner and nurse workforce development in regional northern Australia: Insights from 30 years of census migration data
Dean B. Carson, Matthew McGrail, Ashlyn Sahay
The gentrification of a post-industrial English rural village: Querying urban planetary perspectives
Martin Phillips, Darren Smith, Hannah Brooking, Mara Duer
Does land tenure fragmentation aggravate farmland abandonment? Evidence from big survey data in rural China
Jiayi Wang, Yu CAO, Xiaoqian Fang, Guoyu Li, Yu Cao
Effect of agri-environment schemes (2007–2014) on groundwater quality; spatial analysis in Bavaria, Germany
Domna Tzemi, Philipp Mennig
Donald Trump and changing rural/urban voting patterns
Don E. Albrecht
Beyond the ‘Feminization of Agriculture’: Rural out-migration, shifting gender relations and emerging spaces in natural resource management
Stephanie Leder
Urban–rural disparity of child poverty in China: Spatio-temporal changes and influencing factors
Xia Wang, Shaoqi Hai, Peiru Cai
Coastal transitions: Small-scale fisheries, livelihoods, and maritime zone developments in Southeast Asia
Michael Fabinyi, Ben Belton, Wolfram H. Dressler, Magne Knudsen, Dedi S. Adhuri, Ammar Abdul Aziz, Md. Ali Akber, Jawanit Kittitornkool, Chaturong Kongkaew, Melissa Marschke, Michael Pido, Natasha Stacey, Dirk J. Steenbergen, Peter Vandergeest
Politics of big data in agriculture (Guest editors: Francisco Klauser and Dennis Pauschinger)
Guest editorial: Politics of big data in agriculture
Francisco Klauser, Dennis Pauschinger
‘You can't eat data’?: Moving beyond the misconfigured innovations of smart farming
Alistair Fraser
Digitization as politics: Smart farming through the lens of weak and strong data
Michael Carolan
The introduction of digital technologies into agriculture: Space, materiality and the public–private interacting forms of authority and expertise
Dennis Pauschinger, Francisco R. Klauser
Digital from farm to fork: Infrastructures of quality and control in food supply chains
Dr Andrew Donaldson
Poverty Stories of rural households in China: The case of North Jiangsu
Shuangshuang Tang Harry F. Lee Xu Huang Jing Zhou
Abstract：After decades of rapid economic growth and massive rural-to-urban migration, rural poverty in China has been largely alleviated. Existing literature has highlighted the crucial role played by non-farm employment in the rural population's escape from poverty. However, despite some engagement in non-farm employment, a huge population in rural China remains poor. Why rural households remain poor in spite of non-farm employment has not been sufficiently explored by scholars. To fill the research gap, this paper explores the underlying mechanisms of poverty among the poor rural population, based on a recent questionnaire survey (n = 2,822) conducted in rural North Jiangsu in China. Our multinomial logistic regression model and OLS regression model show that education is positively associated with the likelihood of engaging in non-farm sectors. Relatively low education attainment of working-age household members (secondary education and below) restricted the earnings from non-farm activities, reducing the likelihood of escaping poverty. Supporting higher education for their children is often a heavy burden for poor non-agricultural rural households, driving them into the poverty trap. The results also show that significant family events, such as severe illness and children's college enrollment, have kept rural households poor, even if some household members have participated in non-farm activities through migration or working in the local non-rural sector. In addition, instead of being looked after, some apparently dependent family members (the elderly) undertake agricultural activities and domestic work to support the out-migration of the labor force in poor rural households to enable household wealth accumulation. The findings suggest that policymakers should implement a series of reforms, especially regarding improvement in health insurance and education and the economic development in the local areas (incl. rural areas and nearby towns) to deal with rural poverty.
Regional variations in automation job risk and labour market thickness to agricultural employment
Richard Henry Rijnks Frank Crowley Justin Doran
Abstract：Automation has the potential to transform entire agricultural value chains and the nature of agricultural business. Recent studies have emphasised barriers to adoption, as well as issues related to labour market and cultural outcomes of automation. However, thus far, very little attention has been afforded to the regional variations in the potential for automation adoption or threats to agricultural employment. Specifically, research to date does not take into account the local availability of similar occupations including those in different sectors to which displaced workers may transition. Threats to employment and lower numbers of similar jobs locally are particularly salient in rural contexts, given the thin and specialized local labour markets. The aims of this paper are to show the regional distribution of risk to automation for the agricultural sector specifically, and to link these patterns to indicators for occupation specific labour market thickness in Ireland. Using detailed occupational skills data, we construct indices for local labour market thickness conditioned on occupational skills and knowledge requirements. We show that there is substantial regional heterogeneity in the potential threat of automation to the employment prospects of workers currently active in the agricultural sector. This regional heterogeneity highlights the importance of the regional context for designing effective labour market policy in the face of job automation.
How close do you like your coffee? - Examining proximity and its effects in relationship coffee models
Hanna Edelmann Xiomara F. Quiñones-Ruiz Marianne Penker
Abstract：Relationship coffee models are generally characterized by a shortened value chain and efforts to achieve social, economic, and environmental sustainability. In three case studies with farmers organized in cooperatives in Peru and buyers in Austria or Germany, we analyzed the proximity among the geographically distant value chain actors. This paper aims to provide a more nuanced perspective on relational (organizational, institutional, cognitive, and social) proximity in relationship coffee models. The comparative analysis of the proximities in our case studies revealed that initial face-to-face contacts are required to build further proximity dimensions. Proximate relationship coffee models have led to more recognition, pride, a good reputation of the actors, higher coffee quality and thus farm-gate prices, and stable long-term relationships. However, relationship coffees require more coordination and communication among chain actors and advanced farmer skills and efforts to produce high-quality coffee. In relationship coffee models, farmers still depend on buyers and roasters to benefit from higher quality of their green coffee.
Rural development pressure and “three-stay” response: A case of Jinchang City in the Hexi Corridor, China
Libang Ma Haojian Dou Shanshan Wu Zhihao Shi Ziyan Li
Abstract：The rural development pressure and the problem of “three-stay” in the process of rapid urbanization are important issues that are currently concerned by the development of countries and regions in the world. This paper builds an evaluation model of rural development pressure and left-behind to analyze the spatial differences and characteristics of rural development pressure and the “three-stay” problem in Jinchang City, Hexi Corridor, China, in 2019. Then, we explored the relationship between them. The conclusions are: (1) Jinchang City has the lowest pressure on infrastructure and the largest pressure on industrial development, with significant spatial differences in comprehensive pressure. (2) Jinchang City is dominated by double pressure villages (40.60%) and comprehensive pressure villages (38.35%). Single-pressure villages (19.55%) and non-pressure villages (1.50%) account for relatively small proportions. (3) The population of “three-stay” in Jinchang City is 1,642, accounting for 1.19% of the total rural population. The middle and low-level left-behind areas have the largest number, accounting for 76.69% of the total administrative villages. The types of left-behind villages are mainly dominated by left-behind children and left-behind elderly people, accounting for 71.72% of the total number of left-behind villages. (4) Homestead per household, the rate of network coverage, per capita cultivated land area, and the number of specialized farmer cooperatives owned are the main factors affecting different types of left-behind villages, and each factor has different effects on different types of left-behind villages. This paper can provide a theoretical basis for implementing the rural revitalization strategy and scientifically solving the rural “three-stay” problems.
To participate, or not to participate – That is the question. (Non-)participation of older residents in rural communities
Franziska Lengerer Annett Steinführer Tialda Haartsen
Abstract：In recent years, rural residents' participation within their local communities has attracted attention within scientific and political debates that focus on sustaining or improving the quality of life in villages. Retired older people feature centrally in these discussions, as they are perceived to have the time and life experience to participate in various local activities. This paper contributes to the existing literature through an examination of older villagers’ participation and non-participation within their communities in a strongly ageing rural area in Germany. Applying mixed methods and using survey data compiled for older residents, we identified six groups differentiated according to four types of participative practices and two main rationales for non-participation within villages in this region, thus introducing nuances and complexity to both sides of the participation/non-participation dichotomy. Our comparison of these six groups, considering their socio-economic characteristics and residential histories, revealed that women were underrepresented in positions of responsibility and that poor health and advanced age were primary reasons for non-participation. There were minor differences in the participation of village stayers and incomers, who accounted for a larger share of non-participants. As strategies to sustain or improve local quality of life should accommodate the interests of all residents, we advocate raising awareness regarding non-participant groups within research and policy contexts.
Evolution of cultivated land fragmentation and its driving mechanism in rural development: A case study of Jiangsu Province
Jing Liu Xiaobin Jin Weiyi Xu Yinkang Zhou
Abstract：Cultivated land fragmentation (CLF) is a complex result of the interaction between resource endowments and human activities in rural areas. Scientifically revealing the evolution of CLF and its driving factors along with rural development is of great significance to sustainable land-use management and rural development. However, there remains a gap in the literature on how CLF and its driving mechanism change with rural development. This study identified these changes by developing a new analytical framework for CLF and rurality assessment in the case of Jiangsu Province. The results show that (1) the regional differences in rural development stages have, to a certain extent, contributed to the substantial spatial variabilities in CLF characteristics and its driving factors. (2) The average value of the CLF index in Jiangsu Province gradually rises with the weakening of rural characteristics, and its fractal dimensions in different stages of rural development are all characterized by “spatial agglomeration > resource scale > utilization convenience”. (3) Gradient analysis reveals that the drivers of CLF and its fractal dimensions changes in China differ from rural to urban contexts, especially highlighting the critical roles of production and living conditions, socio-economic development, and natural environment with different impact intensities and trends. Consequently, we call for joint actions to alleviate CLF on adaptive strategies, especially those related to the expansion of plot size, the spatial integration of rural settlements, and the intensification of urban land-use. The findings of this study will provide essential insights for policymakers on CLF to formulate differentiated farmland management and rural development policies.
Rural outmigration in Northeast Brazil: Evidence from shared socioeconomic pathways and climate change scenarios
Linda Márcia Mendes Delazeri Dênis Antônio Da Cunha Paolo Miguel Manalang Vicerra Lais Rosa Oliveira
Abstract：Climate change negatively impacts agricultural production influencing the rural-to-urban migration options of the population. In this study, we investigate the effects of expected climate change on population distribution and outmigration from rural areas of the Northeast region of Brazil (NEB) over the coming decades under different socioeconomic and climate scenarios. Demographic projection models to 2060 were created based on assumptions of future fertility, mortality, migration, and educational transition. Results reveal that changes in rural population size and composition and rural outmigration may emerge depending on future climatic conditions, agricultural income, and education. The highly-educated population can adapt with changes in climate and avoid income loss while earnings of those with lower education are reduced. The latter's outmigration option is also limited because of lower qualifications. Policies should support economically vulnerable populations especially those dependent on agriculture. Also, policies must accommodate alternative climate change scenarios and their consequences on rural population displacement.
How rural financial credit affects family farm operating performance: An empirical investigation from rural China
Zhigang Chen Qianyue Meng Rongwei Xu Xibao Guo Chen Cai
Abstract：This paper investigates the effects of current rural financial credit on the operating performance of family farms and the effects of these differences in China. Using the survey data of two national family farm demonstration bases of Wuhan City, Hubei Province, and Langxi County, Anhui Province, in 2016, a three-stage data envelopment analysis model is applied to quantitatively measure the family farms’ operating performance. In addition, the Tobit model and the propensity score matching model are applied to empirically evaluate and examine the overall effects of rural financial credit on family farms, as well as the differences in the effects in different regions and operation types. The evidence implies that in terms of the overall effects, rural formal financial credit has improved the performance of family farms, while rural informal financial credit has had a nonsignificant impact on family farm performance. Moreover, the rural formal financial credit in Wuhan has had a better effect than that in Langxi. Breeding family farms and mixed family farms are more positively affected by rural formal financial credit than are planting family farms.
Regionalisation and general practitioner and nurse workforce development in regional northern Australia: Insights from 30 years of census migration data
Dean B. Carson Matthew McGrail Ashlyn Sahay
Abstract：The purpose of this research is to investigate the extent to which Australia's northern cities have become increasingly important mediators of migration of nurses and general practitioners (GPs) to the regional north since the 1980s. Over that period, national and provincial policy has focused on ‘regionalisation’ of health workforce development, including creating education and training infrastructure outside of metropolitan areas. This paper hypothesises that the effectiveness of regionalisation in northern Australia should be reflected in an increased net flow of GPs and nurses from northern cities (which are the hubs of education and training) to the regional north. Data from the seven Australian Census between 1986 and 2016 are used to model changing patterns of migration. Overall, there was limited evidence of substantial change in migration patterns, although for GPs there was a reduction in migration from the key metropolitan source markets (Brisbane and Adelaide) matching an increase in supply from northern cities. Northern cities have consistently been the source of about one quarter of new nurse and GP migrants to the regional north, but the regional north has become a much less favoured destination for professionals leaving northern cities as cities' populations have grown much faster than regional populations. Net flows have remained small and for nurses have favoured the cities while for GPs favoured the regional north. The paper concludes that, while there is limited evidence of increased ‘spillover’ of labour from the cities to the regional north, there is also no evidence of the cities increasingly ‘spongeing’ regional labour. Cities and regional migration systems may be increasingly disconnected as labour demands diverge, but new connections are being created with the rest of non-metropolitan Australia. The research is the first to analyse health professional migration over such a long period, and contributes to the debates about the roles of cities in sparsely populated areas in the de
The gentrification of a post-industrial English rural village: Querying urban planetary perspectives
Martin Phillips Darren Smith Hannah Brooking Mara Duer
Abstract：Recent years have seen the growth of planetary perspectives related to urbanisation and gentrification that have challenged the significance of differentiations of rural and urban space. This paper explores the arguments advanced in these perspectives, highlighting claims that they are based on a critique of methodological territorialism that has long been employed in rural and urban studies, as well as exhibiting an urbanormativity that was arguably absent from some earlier critiques of people such as Ray Pahl. This paper seeks to develop a study of rural gentrification that avoids urbanormativity and methodological territorialism. After reviewing debates related to academic and lay conceptions of the urban and rural, the paper highlights how territorial representations may warrant investigation even when social practices may be seen to routinely traverse boundaries of, for example, the rural. The relevance of these ideas to gentrification is then explored through an investigation of the gentrification of a village, which like many ‘urban’ settlements, has experienced both industrialisation and de-industrialisation. Drawing on the results of a ‘mixed-method questionnaire’ conducted in this village in Calderdale, England, the paper explores how the lives of residents are connected into more and less distant urban spaces through an analysis of migrational movements and employment relations, including commuting patterns. It is argued that, in line with arguments advanced within studies of planetary urbanisation/gentrification, there is considerable interconnection between the village and areas that have been classified as urban. However, it is also shown that neither this interconnection, nor the areas industrial past, means that symbolic and affective senses of rurality are insignificant to village residents, or to the practices of gentrification that have emerged. This did not mean that representations of rurality were unimpacted by industry and urban connectivity, with the paper detailing that whilst th
Does land tenure fragmentation aggravate farmland abandonment? Evidence from big survey data in rural China
Jiayi Wang Yu CAO Xiaoqian Fang Guoyu Li Yu Cao
Abstract：Farmland fragmentation is an important factor of farmland abandonment in China, including landscape fragmentation in biophysical conditions and tenure fragmentation in property conditions. Both farmland fragmentation has different effects and different management strategies. However, it is still unclear whether the farmland tenure fragmentation (FTF) aggravates farmland abandonment and its extent when the farmland landscape fragmentation (FLF) remains unchanged. Therefore, we combined the large-scale sample survey (5479 samples) and geographical analysis to distinguish FTF and FLF, and use logistic regression and Tobit regression model to analyze the impact of FTF on farmland abandonment. In addition, we take farmland transfer as a moderation variable to explore whether the farmland transfer significantly alleviates the abandonment of farmland. Here we show that the farmland abandonment rate decreased by 16.8% when the average plot area increased by 1 mu (1 mu = 666.67 m2) in China, and in the place where the extent of FLF is lower, the impact of FTF on farmland abandonment is greater. And farmland transfer plays a significant regulatory role between the FTF and the abandoned rate of farmland. This study helps to distinguish our understanding of the impact of FTF and FLF on farmland abandonment and provides a scientific basis for decision-makers to reduce the abandonment of farmland, ensure national food security, and promote rural revitalization.
Effect of agri-environment schemes (2007–2014) on groundwater quality; spatial analysis in Bavaria, Germany
Domna Tzemi Philipp Mennig
Abstract：Degradation of groundwater quality and contamination of drinking resources is one of the most widespread and harmful impacts of over-fertilisation in agriculture. As part of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), agri-environment schemes (AES) have as main objective the protection and management of the farm environment, including groundwater quality. In this article a spatial econometric model is applied to evaluate the impact of AES on groundwater nitrate concentrations. Bavaria, a federal state of Germany, is used as a case study, due to the findings of high nitrate concentrations in the groundwater. A significantly negative effect is found between AES expenditures focusing on grassland management and nitrogen concentrations, while AES focusing on crop management, organic farming and preservation of cultural landscape did not show a significant effect. The assessment of other factors such as cereals and forage showed a statistically positive effect on nitrate concentrations. However, loam soil texture, rainfall, and residential area were found to negatively affect nitrate concentrations.
Donald Trump and changing rural/urban voting patterns
Don E. Albrecht
Abstract：In 2016, Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election by securing a very large share of the rural vote. In the 2020 election, his margin of victory in rural America was even greater. This time, however, voter turnout in urban areas was much higher, an even larger share of these urban voters cast their ballot for Biden, and Trump lost the election. Analysis revealed that two variables were especially important predictors of county-level voting behavior. Counties that Trump won had a large proportion of non-Hispanic white residents and a low proportion of college graduates. When controlling for other independent variables, the effects of rural/urban residence largely disappeared. Thus, Trump's dominance in rural counties is explained by the fact that rural counties have large numbers of non-Hispanic white residents and lower levels of educational attainment than urban counties. These same variables were important in explaining the vote in five key battleground states. The relevance of these findings for the future of U.S. democracy in an era of deep political division is discussed.
Beyond the ‘Feminization of Agriculture’: Rural out-migration, shifting gender relations and emerging spaces in natural resource management
Stephanie Leder
Abstract：In international research and development discourses, the ‘Feminization of Agriculture’ is often used as a vague umbrella term referring to an increase in women's labor burden and responsibilities in agriculture as a result of male out-migration. However, the term is under-conceptualized, and fails to reflect changing gender relations in agriculture and natural resource management, with the potential consequence of ill-defined agriculture and gender research programs. This paper challenges narratives of the ‘Feminization of Agriculture’. Drawing from feminist political ecology, this paper conceptualizes gender relations more broadly by highlighting gendered subjectivities and power relations in agriculture in contexts of male out-migration. I propose a conceptual framework to explore shifts in (1) socio-spatial struggles over resources, (2) influence within agrarian households and communal spaces, (3) aspirations, feelings of insecurity and self-determination. I build on extensive participatory fieldwork conducted in three countries, Nepal, India and Bangladesh.
The conceptual framework helps analyze how some gender norms and relations are renegotiated in contexts of male out-migration. While unequal power relations shape everyday struggles in agriculture and natural resource management, for some women, increased mobility, social engagement and handling cash create new spaces to influence, move, and communicate. Importantly, everyday struggles over agricultural, water and land resources remain shaped by gender, age, caste, land ownership, remittances and household position, particularly those living with the family in-laws. Research and development programs need to take intersectionality into account and explore emerging spaces for influence, but also be aware of persistent gender norms and power relations which shape agricultural practices, aspirations and self-determination. I conclude by arguing for the need to expand the ‘Feminization of Agriculture’ debate towards a broader understanding of socio-sp
Urban–rural disparity of child poverty in China: Spatio-temporal changes and influencing factors
Xia Wang Shaoqi Hai Peiru Cai
Abstract：Eradicating child poverty and shrinking urban–rural disparity are the common goals of humanity. In contemporary China, significant differences exist in child poverty between urban and rural regions, despite the remarkable achievements that have been made in child poverty reduction. Using the national datasets of China Family Panel Studies, this study explored the spatio–temporal changes and influencing factors of urban–rural disparity in child poverty (URDCP) in China between 2010 and 2018 based on the Alkire–Foster approach, spatial autocorrelation analysis and Geodetector method. Results indicated that the URDCP has been shrinking since 2010 and that the urban–rural gap in child poverty increased from east to west due to the combined influence of urban–rural differences and regional poverty disparity. The urban–rural differences in child poverty were mainly reflected in the dimensions of nutrition and living standards. Generally, family conditions, mobility and medical resources were the main contributors of spatial variations in URDCP. The findings may provide useful insights into child poverty alleviation in developing countries.
Coastal transitions: Small-scale fisheries, livelihoods, and maritime zone developments in Southeast Asia
Michael Fabinyi Ben Belton Wolfram H. Dressler Magne Knudsen Dedi S. Adhuri Ammar Abdul Aziz Md. Ali Akber Jawanit Kittitornkool Chaturong Kongkaew Melissa Marschke Michael Pido Natasha Stacey Dirk J. Steenbergen Peter Vandergeest
Abstract:Across Southeast Asia, coastal livelihoods are becoming more diverse and more commodified, as maritime zone developments intensify. We review literature from the ten maritime states in Southeast Asia to assess how older and emerging forms of maritime zone developments influence the viability of small-scale fishing livelihoods. Applying a political economy lens to small-scale fisheries and maritime zone developments at regional scale, we show how small-scale fisheries persist as a significant coastal livelihood activity across the region, despite declining opportunities due to long-term intensification of fisheries exploitation. The paper further analyses the ways in which newer maritime zone developments, including aquaculture, land reclamation, special industrial zones, and tourism interact with fishing, and are reconfiguring coastal livelihoods in the region. Key trends that small-scale fishers and coastal communities must negotiate include deepening commodification, worsening environmental degradation, loss of access to fishing grounds, and an intensifying ‘squeeze’ on coastal space.
‘You can't eat data’?: Moving beyond the misconfigured innovations of smart farming
Alistair Fraser
Abstract:This paper presents a critical examination of smart farming. I follow other critical analyses in recognizing the centrality of innovation processes in generating smart farming products, services, arrangements, and problematic outcomes. I subsequently use insights from critical human geography scholarship on the significance of understanding topological transformations to move beyond interpretations that identify only a narrow range of smart farming problems, such as a lack of coordination or limited uptake by farmers. Instead, I examine a broader set of challenges produced by smart farming developments. The overriding concern, I argue, is that smart farming unfolds via the production of numerous ‘misconfigured innovations.’ Using insights from literature on responsible research and innovation I then probe the stakes of looking beyond the misconfigured innovations of smart farming and discuss how new technologies might come to play a role in producing emancipatory smart farming. I pay attention to research on the ‘internet of people,’ which paints a stark new picture of social life generally, and in particular how rural life might be computed and calculated according to new conceptualizations of sociality and spatiality.
Digitization as politics: Smart farming through the lens of weak and strong data
Michael Carolan
Abstract:This paper offers an alternative approach for engaging sociologically, ontologically, and politically with digital farming platforms. A challenge faced by any approach looking to upend intellectual conventions, especially ontological ones, lies in the question of representation, namely, how do we talk about digitization in novel theoretical ways using language rooted in more than two millennia of western human-centered thought? One way to deal with this challenge, the one adopted in this paper, involves decentering familiar terms and repurposing them. Thus, rather than organizing the argument around familiar terms like small and big data, I argue instead that we organize data-assemblages according to what they do, which makes this a political ontological project. To do this, I offer the relational predicate of weak data and strong data, suggesting that they are good to think with in this regard. The argument ultimately lands at a place for analyzing these platforms that offers the potential for critique and perhaps even a degree of optimism, as I suggest a framework for normatively evaluating these practices. The paper draws upon various empirical studies of digital agriculture conducted by the author, which include interviews with farmers, farm laborers, hacktivists, investors, and engineers from numerous countries and locales.
The introduction of digital technologies into agriculture: Space, materiality and the public–private interacting forms of authority and expertise
Dennis Pauschinger Francisco R. Klauser
Abstract:This article examines critically how digital technologies are being introduced into agriculture. The authors argue that this introduction takes place through the interacting forms of expertise and coalitions of authority in relation to both private and public players in smart farming initiatives. The piece adds to current debates about the origins of and driving forces behind emerging technologies for agriculture through the investigation of two case studies, relating to a Swiss drone startup that obtained the first authorisation for crop spraying with their home-made drone, and to a private–public smart farming test compound. It is argued that a way of understanding how digital technologies find their way into the farming sector is to consider not only the complex set of relationships between public and private actors but also the influence of space and materiality on the socio-technical composition of the technologies. The empirical data of the article sheds light upon how in an unprecedented collaboration between private and public actors a new regulatory procedure for digital technologies was established. The article adopts a politico-geographical angle of analysis by grounding its theoretical posture in Foucauldian understandings of power, relational conceptions of space and the agency of materiality, which is anchored in actor-network theory. Within this theoretical stream, the authors introduce the concepts of ‘interacting expertise’ and ‘coalitions of authority’ as a conceptual toolkit for comprehending how an interplay between private companies, public institutions and a range of spatial–material arrangements contribute to what is widely understood in Switzerland as smart farming.
Digital from farm to fork: Infrastructures of quality and control in food supply chains
Dr Andrew Donaldson
Abstract:This paper considers the digitalisation of food infrastructure as a wider context within which smart farming and big data applications in agriculture are being introduced. It examines the use of digital devices aimed providing traceability and transparency across different sites of food supply chains, from farm to fork. The infrastructural perspective problematises ideas of digitalisation as a technological fix to the uncertainness of food supply chains, and highlights the relational nature of food. Digital devices aimed at ensuring food integrity and the control of supply chains are shown to reconstitute infrastructures of qualification by which the qualities of foodstuffs are established as they move through the processes of the supply chain, from production to consumption. The paper identifies question of power around the ongoing process of infrastructuring that generate a requirement for more labour by some actors; the possibility of new politics and relationships built around increased circulation of quality information; and questions of who controls access to information that are obscured by different understandings of transparency.
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