[Extract] Our relationships with the landscapes and ecologies that we are a part of, the plants a... more [Extract] Our relationships with the landscapes and ecologies that we are a part of, the plants and animals that we share them with, and the natural resources that we extract, lie at the heart of contemporary social and political debates. Mitigation of anthropogenic climate change is among a handful of issues that dominate the world's political imagination early in the third millennium of the common era. Risks associated with global environmental change combine with dangers of extreme climatic and geological events to remind us of humanity's dependence on favourable environmental conditions. In every one of the first ten years of the century, natural disasters affected some 200-300 million people and caused around US $100 billion in damage (Armstrong et al. 2011). Such costs increased fourfold in 2011, following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami off the east coast of Japan, as well as a spate of (comparatively smaller) disasters in other advanced economies including the USA, Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand (Ferris and Petz 2012).
[Extract] Readers of Rural Society may recall our review(s) of the last National Landcare Confere... more [Extract] Readers of Rural Society may recall our review(s) of the last National Landcare Conference which was held in Hobart in September 1994 (Lockie and Vanclay, 1994; Lockie, 1994; Vanclay, 1994). We have become somewhat notorious in Landcare circles for these reviews. Because we did have such a strong view of the 1994 conference, we looked forward to the 1997 conference to see what it would reflect of Landcare, and to see whether the organisers would address any of our criticisms. We had forwarded our reviews to the 1994 conference organisers, and we are aware that the 1997 organisers had read them. Consequently, we felt almost obliged to write a review of the 1997 conference.
Australasian Journal of Environmental Management, Mar 1, 2013
Abstract With the majority of Australia's natural resources located on privately managed land... more Abstract With the majority of Australia's natural resources located on privately managed land, there is an imperative for governments to engage land managers in conservation practices that maintain or improve biodiversity. Reflecting the belief that markets lead to a superior allocation of resources, market-based instruments (MBIs) are being applied to a range of environmental issues across Australia. This article reviews the outcomes of three projects that targeted biodiversity conservation on agricultural land in Central Queensland. It examines the purpose for engagement with these programs, and whether the outcomes align with eight key arguments for the use of MBIs. This study suggests that while short-term and targeted environmental goals were achieved, arguably the most important outcomes of these projects were their capacity to build support networks, foster communication between natural resource management agency staff and landholders, and promote a greater appreciation for the relationships between biodiversity and productivity.
Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, May 1, 2013
For almost two decades, community Landcare groups and supporting institutional bodies were the fo... more For almost two decades, community Landcare groups and supporting institutional bodies were the focus of agri-environmental policy in Australia. Despite the successes of Landcare, the programme faces challenges securing funding in an era of agri-environmental policy that preferences economic mechanisms, such as market-based instruments, for devolving funding. This longitudinal study examines how Landcare group activity and membership in one catchment have changed over the last decade. Community Landcare groups in the study area were in ‘sleeper mode’ or had ceased to exist, partially as a result of funding and structural arrangements and several other factors that undermined both community Landcare groups and the regional Landcare network.
This concluding chapter begins by elaborating on the importance of conceptual pluralization and r... more This concluding chapter begins by elaborating on the importance of conceptual pluralization and reflexivity to confront contemporary tendencies of denialism and anti-reflexivity. It then offers critical reflections on the concepts explored in this volume, by returning to the three questions raised in the introductory chapter: What is the explanatory value of these concepts? What biases and blinders are embedded within them? What sort of action-orientation can they inspire? The chapter then discusses how a more robust and sociologically-informed understanding of society-environment relations, and its many spheres of structure and agency, can enrich our understanding of environmental degradation, complexity, social inertia and conditions for social transformation. The closing section addresses the critical role of sociological imagination and reflexivity to explore what future(s) may lie ahead.
International horticulture markets are increasingly governed by transnational private regulations... more International horticulture markets are increasingly governed by transnational private regulations that create a new set of challenges not only for the market but also for local governance and policy regimes. Accordingly, resources from a range of international governance institutions and donors promoting development through neoliberal market rules have been directed towards ensuring that market entry barriers are not prohibitive. This paper presents the results of a recent study undertaken in Vietnam that assessed outcomes within a single value chain governed by GLOBALG.A.P, where technical and financial assistance were provided to smallholders. The constructivist approach highlights that, in addition to typical market entry barriers, additional obstacles existed that prevented smallholders from market participation. These were socially, culturally and historically situated and rooted in informal institutions. Failing to incorporate these into assistance planning may lead to the unequal distribution of development benefits associated with these changing market governance arrangements.
[Extract] In coming to deal with the place of food production in industrial societies we face a s... more [Extract] In coming to deal with the place of food production in industrial societies we face a set of strong tensions. There is the productivist view of agriculture as a technical problem of how best to exploit particular biophysical structures and functions to produce the maximum amount of useable food and fibre. Set against this is a spectrum of views of agriculture as a socio-cultural activity that all but defines a particular society or nation, farming as a way of life, through to it being seen as a key agent of economic development. Riding uneasily with all these is the growing understanding of the place of agriculture as the dominant form of human land management on the planet that must account for many landscape functions and processes other than just providing for human needs. We need a framework for understanding agriculture in all its complex roles of providing human sustenance and cultural meanings, as well as delivering ecosystems services.
The most recent data gathered by the National Sample Survey Office on work participation for wome... more The most recent data gathered by the National Sample Survey Office on work participation for women in India reveal a sharp decline, primarily due to the NSSO's conventional measures not accounting for economic activities undertaken by women for the benefit of households. Alternative definitional approaches to the production boundary, such as the Indian System of National Accounts and the United Nations System of National Accounts, somewhat better account for unpaid work by women for households' own consumption. An analysis of data from the part of the NSSO schedule on employment and unemployment (for 2004–05 and 2011–12) that enquires about various activities undertaken by individuals who report performing household activities as their principal activity, reveals a less dramatic decline than that presented by the more conventional measure of work participation. This finding contributes to a significant rethinking of how rural women's contributions to economic activities ...
ABSTRACT The rising share of farm work in India undertaken by women – a phenomenon commonly refer... more ABSTRACT The rising share of farm work in India undertaken by women – a phenomenon commonly referred to as the feminization of agriculture – raises questions about the changing character of rural India, particularly with regards to women's social and economic roles. Based on an analysis of four sets of occupational data drawn from the Indian Census (1981, 1991, 2001 and 2011), this paper demonstrates that, as a process driven largely by the outmigration of men from rural areas, the feminization of agriculture has no necessary relationship with wider INDICATORS of women's social or economic empowerment. Instead, women's growing participation in agriculture appears to be strongly related to several indicators of poverty. This paper concludes that women's growing contribution of labour in agriculture adds to the already heavy work burdens of most rural women, thereby further undermining their well-being, and suggests that the feminization of agriculture may better be described as the feminization of agrarian distress.
[Extract] Our relationships with the landscapes and ecologies that we are a part of, the plants a... more [Extract] Our relationships with the landscapes and ecologies that we are a part of, the plants and animals that we share them with, and the natural resources that we extract, lie at the heart of contemporary social and political debates. Mitigation of anthropogenic climate change is among a handful of issues that dominate the world's political imagination early in the third millennium of the common era. Risks associated with global environmental change combine with dangers of extreme climatic and geological events to remind us of humanity's dependence on favourable environmental conditions. In every one of the first ten years of the century, natural disasters affected some 200-300 million people and caused around US $100 billion in damage (Armstrong et al. 2011). Such costs increased fourfold in 2011, following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami off the east coast of Japan, as well as a spate of (comparatively smaller) disasters in other advanced economies including the USA, Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand (Ferris and Petz 2012).
[Extract] Readers of Rural Society may recall our review(s) of the last National Landcare Confere... more [Extract] Readers of Rural Society may recall our review(s) of the last National Landcare Conference which was held in Hobart in September 1994 (Lockie and Vanclay, 1994; Lockie, 1994; Vanclay, 1994). We have become somewhat notorious in Landcare circles for these reviews. Because we did have such a strong view of the 1994 conference, we looked forward to the 1997 conference to see what it would reflect of Landcare, and to see whether the organisers would address any of our criticisms. We had forwarded our reviews to the 1994 conference organisers, and we are aware that the 1997 organisers had read them. Consequently, we felt almost obliged to write a review of the 1997 conference.
Australasian Journal of Environmental Management, Mar 1, 2013
Abstract With the majority of Australia's natural resources located on privately managed land... more Abstract With the majority of Australia's natural resources located on privately managed land, there is an imperative for governments to engage land managers in conservation practices that maintain or improve biodiversity. Reflecting the belief that markets lead to a superior allocation of resources, market-based instruments (MBIs) are being applied to a range of environmental issues across Australia. This article reviews the outcomes of three projects that targeted biodiversity conservation on agricultural land in Central Queensland. It examines the purpose for engagement with these programs, and whether the outcomes align with eight key arguments for the use of MBIs. This study suggests that while short-term and targeted environmental goals were achieved, arguably the most important outcomes of these projects were their capacity to build support networks, foster communication between natural resource management agency staff and landholders, and promote a greater appreciation for the relationships between biodiversity and productivity.
Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, May 1, 2013
For almost two decades, community Landcare groups and supporting institutional bodies were the fo... more For almost two decades, community Landcare groups and supporting institutional bodies were the focus of agri-environmental policy in Australia. Despite the successes of Landcare, the programme faces challenges securing funding in an era of agri-environmental policy that preferences economic mechanisms, such as market-based instruments, for devolving funding. This longitudinal study examines how Landcare group activity and membership in one catchment have changed over the last decade. Community Landcare groups in the study area were in ‘sleeper mode’ or had ceased to exist, partially as a result of funding and structural arrangements and several other factors that undermined both community Landcare groups and the regional Landcare network.
This concluding chapter begins by elaborating on the importance of conceptual pluralization and r... more This concluding chapter begins by elaborating on the importance of conceptual pluralization and reflexivity to confront contemporary tendencies of denialism and anti-reflexivity. It then offers critical reflections on the concepts explored in this volume, by returning to the three questions raised in the introductory chapter: What is the explanatory value of these concepts? What biases and blinders are embedded within them? What sort of action-orientation can they inspire? The chapter then discusses how a more robust and sociologically-informed understanding of society-environment relations, and its many spheres of structure and agency, can enrich our understanding of environmental degradation, complexity, social inertia and conditions for social transformation. The closing section addresses the critical role of sociological imagination and reflexivity to explore what future(s) may lie ahead.
International horticulture markets are increasingly governed by transnational private regulations... more International horticulture markets are increasingly governed by transnational private regulations that create a new set of challenges not only for the market but also for local governance and policy regimes. Accordingly, resources from a range of international governance institutions and donors promoting development through neoliberal market rules have been directed towards ensuring that market entry barriers are not prohibitive. This paper presents the results of a recent study undertaken in Vietnam that assessed outcomes within a single value chain governed by GLOBALG.A.P, where technical and financial assistance were provided to smallholders. The constructivist approach highlights that, in addition to typical market entry barriers, additional obstacles existed that prevented smallholders from market participation. These were socially, culturally and historically situated and rooted in informal institutions. Failing to incorporate these into assistance planning may lead to the unequal distribution of development benefits associated with these changing market governance arrangements.
[Extract] In coming to deal with the place of food production in industrial societies we face a s... more [Extract] In coming to deal with the place of food production in industrial societies we face a set of strong tensions. There is the productivist view of agriculture as a technical problem of how best to exploit particular biophysical structures and functions to produce the maximum amount of useable food and fibre. Set against this is a spectrum of views of agriculture as a socio-cultural activity that all but defines a particular society or nation, farming as a way of life, through to it being seen as a key agent of economic development. Riding uneasily with all these is the growing understanding of the place of agriculture as the dominant form of human land management on the planet that must account for many landscape functions and processes other than just providing for human needs. We need a framework for understanding agriculture in all its complex roles of providing human sustenance and cultural meanings, as well as delivering ecosystems services.
The most recent data gathered by the National Sample Survey Office on work participation for wome... more The most recent data gathered by the National Sample Survey Office on work participation for women in India reveal a sharp decline, primarily due to the NSSO's conventional measures not accounting for economic activities undertaken by women for the benefit of households. Alternative definitional approaches to the production boundary, such as the Indian System of National Accounts and the United Nations System of National Accounts, somewhat better account for unpaid work by women for households' own consumption. An analysis of data from the part of the NSSO schedule on employment and unemployment (for 2004–05 and 2011–12) that enquires about various activities undertaken by individuals who report performing household activities as their principal activity, reveals a less dramatic decline than that presented by the more conventional measure of work participation. This finding contributes to a significant rethinking of how rural women's contributions to economic activities ...
ABSTRACT The rising share of farm work in India undertaken by women – a phenomenon commonly refer... more ABSTRACT The rising share of farm work in India undertaken by women – a phenomenon commonly referred to as the feminization of agriculture – raises questions about the changing character of rural India, particularly with regards to women's social and economic roles. Based on an analysis of four sets of occupational data drawn from the Indian Census (1981, 1991, 2001 and 2011), this paper demonstrates that, as a process driven largely by the outmigration of men from rural areas, the feminization of agriculture has no necessary relationship with wider INDICATORS of women's social or economic empowerment. Instead, women's growing participation in agriculture appears to be strongly related to several indicators of poverty. This paper concludes that women's growing contribution of labour in agriculture adds to the already heavy work burdens of most rural women, thereby further undermining their well-being, and suggests that the feminization of agriculture may better be described as the feminization of agrarian distress.
Broadleaf crop rotations have been promoted in southeast Australia for many years with seemingly ... more Broadleaf crop rotations have been promoted in southeast Australia for many years with seemingly mixed success. This paper presents the results of a study conducted in the southern cropping area of New South Wales (NSW) to explore with farmers the use of broadleaf crops, and associated farming practices, in cropping sequences with cereals. Although primarily concerned with barriers to the adoption of broadleaf based crop rotations, discussions were free to range over all aspects of farm management. The study, initiated ...
Abstract (English) Gives detailed results of a study undertaken to establish the level to which f... more Abstract (English) Gives detailed results of a study undertaken to establish the level to which farmers had adopted crop rotation systems, the reasons for adoption of non-adoption, and the benefits or barriers to such systems as perceived by the farmers. The implications for extension services and advisory officers of New South Wales Agriculture are discussed and the need for changes in emphasis in some of the Department's extension and support provisions to farmers.
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Papers by Stewart Lockie