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‘Hell on earth and paradise all at the same time’: the production of smallholding space in the British countryside
Author(s) -
Holloway Lewis
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
area
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1475-4762
pISSN - 0004-0894
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-4762.2000.tb00143.x
Subject(s) - paradise , work (physics) , agriculture , identity (music) , space (punctuation) , rural area , production (economics) , sociology , consumption (sociology) , position (finance) , geography , economic growth , political science , social science , economics , history , archaeology , aesthetics , mechanical engineering , macroeconomics , law , engineering , art history , finance , philosophy , linguistics
Summary This paper begins to develop an analysis of the geography of smallholding, as a contribution to developing interest in cultural geographies of farming and the nature of the ‘post‐productivist’ countryside. The paper uses evidence from a survey of UK smallholders to suggest that they are in a paradoxical position in relation to ideas about ‘real’ farming, production and consumption, leisure and work. Smallholder identity is revealed as constituted through ideas about ‘nature’, food, family, community, work and rural space. The paper concludes by suggesting a framework of ideas for future intensive research into smallholding and its links with farming cultures and rural social and cultural change.