Mark W. Skinner

Agricultural land protection in China: a case study of local governance in Zhejiang Province

Chinas rapid economic development following the 1978 reforms has resulted in significant economic, social and environmental change. One consequence of this change has been the accentuation of an existing trend of agricultural land loss and degradation. Although the 1978 reforms and their impacts have been subjected to considerable scrutiny, relatively little research has been directed towards the relationship between the evolution of local government structures and practices and the implementation of agricultural land protection policies. This paper presents an analysis of this relationship in Huzhou Municipality, Zhejiang Province. Zhejiang Province is situated on the eastern seaboard and exhibited the highest average annual per capita growth in China between 1978 and 1995. Huzhou Municipality is a growth centre in the northern part of the province. A synthesis of the factual knowledge and perceptions of 40 key-informants suggests that despite the development of a comprehensive legal framework for agricultural land protection, the interpretation of policy at local levels continues to permit the loss of agricultural land (and attendant environmental costs) to be traded-off against increased economic growth. This suggests a need to re-evaluate the role of local levels of government in China with respect to agricultural land protection issues; to look as much at the ways policies are implemented as at policies themselves. The devolution of administrative responsibility in China and the increasing influence of powerful local economic interests will provide an impetus for such a re-focussing of research at local levels.

Geographies of ageing Progress and possibilities after two decades of change

This article examines two-decades of progress toward developing ‘geographies of ageing’ as a distinct field of human geography. Reflecting on the last review in this journal by Harper and Laws (1995), we elucidate the longstanding, emergent, and hidden pathways of scholarship involved in the constitution of the field since the mid-1990s. We consider contemporary developments relating to the empirical gap in understanding the contributions of older people and the potential for relational and nonrepresentational perspectives to expand the breadth of the field. The still nascent profile of ageing within the discipline is contrasted with the interdisciplinary spatial turn underway in gerontology.

Co-opting voluntarism? Exploring the implications of long-term care reform for the nonprofit sector in Ontario

Within public policy discourse on health care restructuring and voluntarism, the nonprofit sector is now expected to play an active and direct role in the provision of health care services. The viability of the nonprofit sector to take up this role, however, remains unclear. This paper explores the changing role of nonprofit organisations with respect to the provision of long-term care in Ontario, Canada, where extensive restructuring of public services occurred during the 1990s. Drawing on a critical review of legislation, government policies and documents, and stakeholder reports, the authors present a comparative study of two distinct long-term care reform models, featuring public and private provision, respectively, which were developed by ideologically opposed provincial governments. The results indicate that despite unanimous promotion of voluntarism (and the attendant ascendancy of the nonprofit sector) as a central feature of health care restructuring, the divergent reform models actually trap nonprofit organisations between direct incorporation within public provision on the one hand, and direct free-market competition on the other. The findings suggest that underscoring long-term care reform in Ontario, and elsewhere, is the co-option of the nonprofit sector, which resonates with concern for its ability to replace effectively the public provision of health care services. The results also point to the need to conceptualise the consequent actions taken by nonprofit organisations in order to inform current debates surrounding health care restructuring and voluntarism.

Social and environmental regulation in rural China: bringing the changing role of local government into focus

Abstract China’s rapid economic growth following the 1978 reforms has resulted in significant economic, social and environmental change. These reforms and their outcomes have been subjected to considerable scrutiny. However, relatively little research has been directed towards the relationship between the changing role of local government, which has itself been subject to substantial restructuring, and the local mediation of the social and environmental impacts of rapid economic growth. This paper investigates the local manifestation of social and environmental change in Zhejiang Province. In particular, it considers the changing role of local government in the regulatory process, and features a case study of Huzhou Municipality. A synthesis of the factual knowledge and perceptions of 48 key-informants from government and public institutions and rural industries is used as the platform for an analysis of the changing nature of local regulation with respect to the provision of key public services (health care and education) and environmental protection (water pollution control). The results reveal the ability of local government to selectively implement national and provincial policies in light of local priorities, which is taken as indicative of the emergence of local agency within local development processes. The case study suggests a need to re-evaluate conventional wisdom on the absence of autonomy at local levels of government in China, particularly as it relates to the continued devolution of administrative responsibility and the emergence of increasingly powerful economic interests.

Supporting hospice volunteers and caregivers through community-based participatory research

Drawing on the results of community-based research with a local hospice organisation, this article addresses the need to enhance social support for caregivers of people with life-threatening illnesses. The goal of the research was to involve palliative care stakeholders in the identification, prioritisation and implementation of social support interventions for caregivers who provide palliative care support as hospice volunteers and as family members of those at end-of-life. Guided by a community-based participatory research approach, primary data were collected from 39 volunteer and family member caregivers through four focus groups and nine personal diaries in July 2008. Content analysis and modified constant comparison techniques resulted in emergent themes and priorities relating to challenges, existing coping strategies and resources, and potential support interventions. The findings revealed communication, emotional support, education, advocacy and personal fatigue as the most important challenges to be addressed through support interventions at the organisational (professional support, volunteer mentoring and continuing education) and household levels (caregiver assessments, telephone support and follow-up). There was convergence in how caregivers perceived and access existing social supports, yet a crucial divergence in the availability of resources among volunteers and family members. The findings are discussed in the light of the capacity for hospices to implement social supports and the potential efficacy of the community-based participatory research approach for enhancing social support for caregivers in other parts of health-care and social care.

Farmwomen's emotional geographies of care: a view from rural Ontario

This article contributes to geographies of rural womens health by investigating farmwomens perceptions of their caring roles and responsibilities, which are crucial to the wellbeing and sustainability of rural people and their communities. Featuring a thematic analysis of interviews and a focus group with farmwomen from Ontario, Canada, the research examines farms and farming as unique places and spaces of care. Informed by the literature on emotional geographies, the article examines how care is situated and performed through farmwomens negotiation of multiple, overlapping identities and how these are embodied and affective in emotional work. The findings not only confirm the paramount role of women in rural care, they demonstrate the interdependence of family, community and work as central to the challenges of rural womens health. The article argues that the link between health and productivity on the farm is crucial to understanding farmwomens caring, and highlights the paradox that their emotional work is as much about opportunities for power and resistance as it is about obligation and subordination.

Investigating Environmental Determinants of Injury and Trauma in the Canadian North

Unintentional injury and trauma rates are disproportionately high in Inuit regions, and environmental changes are predicted to exacerbate injury rates. However, there is a major gap in our understanding of the risk factors contributing to land-based injury and trauma in the Arctic. We investigated the role of environmental and other factors in search and rescue (SAR) incidents in a remote Inuit community in northern Canada using a collaborative mixed methods approach. We analyzed SAR records from 1995 to 2010 and conducted key consultant interviews in 2010 and 2011. Data showed an estimated annual SAR incidence rate of 19 individuals per 1,000. Weather and ice conditions were the most frequent contributing factor for cases. In contrast with other studies, intoxication was the least common factor associated with SAR incidents. The incidence rate was six times higher for males than females, while land-users aged 26–35 had the highest incidence rate among age groups. Thirty-four percent of individuals sustained physical health impacts. Results demonstrate that environmental conditions are critical factors contributing to physical health risk in Inuit communities, particularly related to travel on sea ice during winter. Age and gender are important risk factors. This knowledge is vital for informing management of land-based physical health risk given rapidly changing environmental conditions in the Arctic.

The emotional overlay: Older person and carer perspectives on negotiating aging and care in rural Ontario

This paper extends the burgeoning interest in emotion, health and place by investigating the emotionally complex experiences of aging and care in rural settings. Featuring a thematic analysis of 44 semi-structured interviews and two focus groups with older people and their carers in rural Ontario (Canada) we examine the importance and implications of emotions within and across multiple scales at which care relationships, expectations and responsibilities are negotiated. With the aim of broadening the discussion surrounding geographical dimensions of ethical care, our approach draws on feminist care ethics to understand the multifaceted ways in which emotions shape and are shaped by experiences of aging and caring at the interpersonal, household and community scales. The findings reveal how emotions are central, yet often-overlooked and even hidden within care relationships among older rural people and their carers. We argue that ethical care is contingent on recognizing and valuing the situated emotions involved in doing care work, sustaining care relationships and asking for care. In doing so, we demonstrate how qualitative research on the emotional geographies of care can contribute to the development of informed policies that are contextually sensitive and, ultimately, have the potential to build more ethical rural conditions of care.

Spaces of Resistance or Acquiescence? Learning from Media Discourses on the Role of Voluntarism in Ageing Communities

This paper explores the extent to which a correspondence exists between academic theories and public perceptions concerning the role of volunteers and voluntary organizations in ageing communities. Drawing on local print media as a key source of information on public discourse, and with reference to an existing theorization of voluntarism, we analyze daily newspaper coverage of voluntary sector involvement in community care, long-term care, and health system restructuring in a mid-size Canadian city in the 2000s. The findings reveal how the link between voluntarism and ageing in place is portrayed in public discourse, how this portrayal fits with the prevailing academic conceptions of voluntarism as a ‘space of resistance’, and how the local print media helps shape discourse on voluntarism in ageing communities. The evident risk within the academic literature of overtheorizing voluntarism beyond its documented significance and the tendencies within public discourse to romanticize volunteers and voluntary organizations are problematized, and the implications for developing informed policy in ageing communities are discussed.

Using Care Ethics to Enhance Qualitative Research on Rural Aging and Care

Qualitative research offers important insights into the subjectivity, complexity, and relationality of care. In this article, we examine the particular processes and relationships involved in doing qualitative research about care with older people in rural places. We draw on our experience completing two related qualitative studies of rural care in Canada to extend discussions about responsible research practice in relation to participant recruitment, interviews, and focus groups. By applying Hankivsky’s principles of care ethics in our reflection on research practices, we make explicit the role of emotions in connecting with research participants, collecting and participating in narrative-based research, and negotiating identity. We conclude with a discussion of the distinct ways in which applying care ethics throughout the research process can augment reflexive practice and enhance the integrity and theoretical contributions of qualitative health research while developing more inclusive understandings of vulnerability in older rural populations.