https://revistatransilvania.ro/the-unknown-michael-cernea-at-90/

This paper is written for Professor Michael Cernea’ 90th birthday. However, I did not perform an in-depth analysis of his work as a sociologist of development because his contributions are worldwide known. What is less known is his activity before his employment at the World Bank, in 1974. He did his studies during a period when sociology was banned in Romania. Despite this, he became one of the pioneers of the process of rehabilitation of sociological field research in Romania. First, he dealt with industrial and urban sociology. Then, under the influence of interwar sociological traditions, he turned to rural sociology. The activity after 1974 cannot be fully understood without knowing the Romanian background of this sociologist who has recently turned 90.

Functional Social Organization to Obtain the Region of Origin Cotija Cheese Collective Brand

Objective: To identify the functional elements which impact the processes of patrimonial activation to obtain the Region of Origin Cotija Cheese Collective Brand, through collective social action as the basis of territorial development in the Sierra of the states of Jalisco and Michoacán. Design/Methodology/Approach: A qualitative study was conducted, based on the tradition of rural sociology, where the categories of analysis of the Localized Agrifood Systems approach were used. For this purpose, semi-structured interviews with different social actors were applied where there was an inquiry about the technical, organizational, economic and political aspects that have an impact in obtaining seals of quality, destined to the protection and differentiation of emblematic foods. Results: After an attempt to obtain the Denomination of Origin, given the particularities of the Localized Agrifood System involved in the production of Cotija cheese, the decision was to obtain a Collective Brand whose prerequisites adjusted better to the characteristics of their productive systems. Obtaining the seal was an important achievement in terms of the horizon that this signal generated for producers and for the territory. However, this is only the beginning in a process of constant valuation that must be redefined throughout time. Study Limitations/Implications: It is an exploratory study that only addresses the internal dimension of the productive system of Cotija cheese; a deeper analysis ought to broaden the study of the social networks implied in the processes of valuation, including actors outside the territory. Findings/Conclusions: Mexico’s agrifood heritage is a strategic resource that must be protected for cultural, economic, food security and health reasons. This should be assumed as an obligation of the State in co-responsibility with academia, producers and consumers. Obtaining a collective brand is only one step within an unfinished valuation process that must be maintained through collective action and market stimulus.

El factor innovador en la agricultura de la Comunidad Valenciana (España). Factores que impulsan la innovación agraria / / / \ \ \ The innovative factor in agriculture in the Valencian Community (Spain). Factors driving agricultural innovation

Resumen: La presente investigación sociológica se centra en la figura del productor agrario valenciano y su comportamiento frente a la innovación. Adoptar una actitud que favorezca la innovación depende de múltiples factores que influyen en la gestión de la empresa agraria. Este estudio utiliza los datos procedentes de una encuesta a productores agrarios valencianos que profundiza en los factores socioeconómicos que pueden decantar al productor agrario hacia una postura favorable a la innovación. Posteriormente, el estudio se centra en obtener un perfil tipo que represente al productor según sus características y las de su explotación, según su actitud innovadora y la orientación hacia factores influyentes, como son la orientación al mercado y la orientación al aprendizaje. Se observa una asociación positiva entre la actitud innovadora y el nivel de formación del agricultor y su proximidad a zonas urbanas, donde existe más acceso a conocimiento y servicios. El artículo concluye con la descripción de unos tipos ideales weberianos sobre agricultores basándose en su orientación hacia la innovación. Palabras clave: Innovación, Agricultura Valenciana, Gestión del Territorio, Políticas Públicas, Sociología Rural. Abstract: This sociological study focuses on rural innovation. Farmers are the main actors of innovation in the agricultural sector. This study focuses on the socio-economic profile of the Valencian farmer and his/her attitude towards innovation. Adopting a position inclined to innovate depends on multiple factors that influence business management. This paper uses data from a farmers’ survey carried out in the Valencia region that considers the socioeconomic factors that make farmers take a position favourable to innovation. Later, the study focuses on a typical profile of innovative producers, according to their characteristics, taking into account market orientation, learning orientation and innovative attitude. The results show a positive contribution of level of education and location in urban areas (access to knowledge and services) to the innovative attitude. Key words: Innovation, Valencian Agriculture, Territorial Management, Public Policies, Rural Sociology.

Crossing boundaries in rural research

Rural places around the world share common issues related to their positioning outside social, political, and economic centres of power. More than simply tyranny of distance, many issues can be attributed to tyranny at distance: that is, the power of distant decision-makers to direct rural development from afar with little knowledge of rural contexts. In response to the challenge to progress a transformative research agenda for rural sociology, this article theorises a ‘cross-boundary’ approach to research for rural development, to address persisting issues of development ignorance. Cross-boundary knowledge production values the multiple, contextualised knowledges of rural people and brings these into dialogue with academic knowledges across disciplines to inform practical rural solutions. Rural sociologists, with their in-depth understanding of rural community dynamics and larger social structures, are ideally positioned to broker cross-boundary knowledge partnerships that equip rural communities to solve old problems in new ways.

Agri-food scholarship: Past, present and future contributions to Australasian rural sociology

The future of food and agriculture in Australasia will be defined by multiple social, economic, political and environmental tensions – with climate change and social inequalities playing a central role in the re-imagining of food systems in crisis. This article argues that rural sociology will continue to be well-served by the sociological research into the farming and food industries undertaken by antipodean scholars – especially those from Australia and New Zealand where agri-food scholarship has flourished. Analyses of the future dynamics of rural social/economic change, natural resource management (including land, water and minerals), new relations of work, labour and identity, emerging agricultural technologies, Indigenous and post-colonial politics, and food system governance will benefit from agri-food studies’ insights into agrarian transformation and governance, social and environmental sustainability, health and wellbeing, and the growth of resistance and alternatives.

An agenda for Australian rural sociology: Troubling the white middle-class farming woman

In reflecting on the last two decades of publications by Australian rural studies scholars in three major disciplinary journals, this article argues that the field of Australian rural sociology has failed to address racial inequality and class difference. While we note a burgeoning of feminist rural research challenging the historical emphasis on the white male farmer, this too has tended to occlude class and race, as is demonstrated in our analysis of the national ‘Invisible Farmer’ project. Accordingly, we point to a need to bring anti-racist work and scholarship to bear on our subdiscipline. In particular, we call for Australian rural studies scholars to engage with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander scholarship to interrogate whiteness as a category of difference and to open a discussion about relinquishing settler power, including in the academy. We emphasise the need for actions to understand and challenge the continuing dominance and privilege of whiteness and the fundamentally classed colonial project in Australian rural studies.

AGRIBUSINESSMEN OF THE TYUMEN OBLAST SOUTH: LIFE-STORIES ANALYSIS

Agricultural entrepreneurship, viewed as an essential structural factor for the development of economy and market relations in rural areas, is largely affected by the socio-economic context. The article discloses the realities of Russian agricultural entrepreneurship on the example of various forms of agribusinesses in the remote Russian countryside (companies, farms, peasant farms). Article aims to reveal the characteristic image of a rural businessman of the Tyumen oblast south. Empirical data are obtained as a part of a research project which studies the development of regional rural areas. Authors’ narrative analysis of problematic issues is based on 59 expert in-depth interviews (21 with agribusinessmen, 38 with the ones of related occupations). In the theoretical aspect, the authors rely on classical and modern scientific literature on rural sociology, sociology of entrepreneurship and theoretical and methodological approaches that dominate in these areas of sociology. Qualitative data analysis allowed us to reveal: 1) main characteristics of a rural businessman, their actual qualities and skills necessary for their work; 2) internal and external factors of the business environment, that influence the efficiency of agribusiness. The problems of agriculture and rural areas, considered as barriers to business-activity development, are contextually identified. Scientific novelty of results is determined by the original empirical data, obtained through expert interviews, as it can be used in further research within this field. The application of MAXQDA Plus 2020 tools for analysis and interpretation of qualitative and mixed data is of practical importance.