S. Whatmore

The restructuring process and economic centrality in capitalist agriculture

Abstract The purpose of the paper is to examine contemporary relations in agricultural production. The discussion focuses upon the internal and external processes modifying production relations on the farm and, in particular, the changing significance of farm-based sources of income and capital (economic centrality) to the farm business in the restructuring of agricultural capital. There are a variety of reasons why farm businesses are finding it increasingly necessary to diversify their sources of income, and in some cases capital generation, which relate to their internal family relations and external contacts. While obtaining alternative sources of income for farmers may be advocated for the purpose of reducing their marginalisation and low income problems, this may only be realisable for a minority. The complexities of farm businesses and their external relations with other forms of capital suggest the need for a construction of a typology which focuses on the economic centrality of the business to the farm family. The discussion here is divided into four sections. First, the main characteristics of the restructuring process in British agriculture are identified, leading to a discussion focusing on the transformation of the family farm. The concept of economic centrality is then discussed as an important characteristic of the restructuring process affecting British farming, and a typology of farm businesses established, based upon empirical evidence collected from Londons Metropolitan Green Belt. This evidence forms part of a wider study of the changing structure of farm businesses in three areas of lowland England (East Bedfordshire, West Dorset and Londons Green Belt) which links farm business change to changes in the farm landscape.

Uneven development and the restructuring process in British agriculture: a preliminary exploration

Abstract The development of a political economy approach to the understanding of agricultural development still remains in its infancy. This paper explores the significance of uneven development as a central concept with which to unify the approach. In the first part of the paper a set of scales are suggested which provide a framework for coping with uneven development in agriculture, both over space and temporally. Attempts to link theory and evidence are crucial in this process, and in the second part of the paper attention focuses upon the restructuring of British agriculture through an analysis of one such scale of uneven development, that of changes in internal production relations for the period 1970–1985.

Part-Time Farming and its Implications for the Rural Landscape: A Preliminary Analysis

Part-time farm businesses are assuming an increased importance within the structure of British agriculture. It is often suggested that their reduced dependence on the financial and technological treadmills driving farm development leads them to have less impact than full-time producers on the farmed landscape. Some evidence in support of this view, drawn from a survey of landscape change between 1970 and 1985 on more than 200 farms in southern England, is presented. At the same time, the findings caution against generalisation and emphasise the need to disaggregate the results. In particular, it is essential to ascertain the different roles part-time farming is playing in the development of capitalist agriculture and the strategies of farm households. There is as much variation in the rates of landscape change between types of part-time business as between full-time and part-time farming.

Rural Restructuring: Global Processes and Their Responses

Who is rural? or, how to be rural, Marc Morment restructuring agriculture in advance societies - transformation, crisis and responses, Patrick Commins paradigmatic shift in agriculture - global effects and the Swedish response, Martin Peterson agricultural restructuring and rural social change in Australia, Geoffrey Lawrence rural labour market changes in the United States, Gene F.Summers et al class and change in rural Britain, Paul Cloke and Nigel Thift household, consumption and livelihood - ideologies and issues for rural research, Nenneke Redclift and Sarah Whatmore.