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Cultivating Back‐to‐the‐Landers: Networks of Knowledge in Rural N orthern I taly
Author(s) -
Wilbur Andrew
Publication year - 2014
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/soru.12024
Subject(s) - livelihood , agriculture , business , relation (database) , value (mathematics) , marketing , agricultural science , knowledge management , sociology , geography , computer science , archaeology , database , machine learning , environmental science
Back‐to‐the‐land migration offers a unique and insightful opportunity to explore how individuals from non‐agricultural backgrounds adopt, adapt and perceive the demands of farming. There is considerable variation in the forms of study and methods of preparation that back‐to‐the‐landers undertake before trying to create a livelihood from the land, not to mention highly disparate results from their efforts. This article considers the value that new farmers in I taly attach to different forms of knowledge, in particular the discrepancies between formal scientific and local knowledges. The utility of different forms is discussed in relation to the individual experiences of farmers, as well as formal networks that exist to impart technical knowledge of agriculture. Two case‐study organisations, W orldwide O pportunities on O rganic F arms ( WWOOF ) and A ssociazione per E sperienze ( APE ) are analysed with regard to their abilities to assemble and transmit specific forms of knowledge to new and aspiring farmers, thus strengthening the viability of back‐to‐the‐land as a lifestyle choice and farming as a vocation.