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Born to be Farmers? Changing Expectations in Norwegian Farmers’ Life Courses
Author(s) -
Villa Mariann
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
sociologia ruralis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.005
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1467-9523
pISSN - 0038-0199
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9523.00111
Subject(s) - norwegian , agency (philosophy) , autonomy , everyday life , life course approach , agriculture , sociology , empowerment , position (finance) , family farm , economic growth , business , social science , political science , geography , economics , psychology , social psychology , philosophy , linguistics , archaeology , finance , law
The article explores how the general processes of individualization might be found within farmers’ culture. This article focuses on three generations of Norwegian farmers’ entry into farming, their views of their present situation as farmers, and their views on succession. In‐depth interviews were carried out with sixteen farmers, exploring their special mode of living and how it has changed over generations. This is related to being born farmers and the challenge to this position due to social development in general, and becoming a minority in rural society in particular. The farmers’ stories illustrate a change from farming as an occupation you were obliged to carry on, to farming as one option among many. At the same time, there is an increasingly expression of the need for autonomy between generations and the nuclear family on the farm. The theoretical approaches are built upon the perspectives of life mode and life course analyses. Life mode analysis emphasizes cultural and economic structures as acting upon peoples’ everyday lives, while a life course approach adds more consideration to processes and changes, as well as the impact of human agency throughout the life course.