Poetic Justice? Rural policy clashes with rural poetry in the 2001 outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the UK

The emotional geography of a mine closure: a study of the Ravensthorpe nickel mine in Western Australia

“…Indeed, in data sources such as poetry (Nerlich and Doring 2005) and diaries (Bailey, Convery, Baxter and Mort 2004), writers have charted feelings of bereavement, frustration, sadness, anger, distrust and disempowerment. Bennett (2004) reveals these feelings are enacted and written on the body with participants teary, fidgeting and pausing, and one interviewee describing not being able to walk because of her distress.…”

“…While they contended that at no time over the seven years of leadup to the mine had there ever been any mention by BHP Billiton that the mine would not be around for anything up to twenty-five to thirty years, they still felt used and foolish as they dealt with taunts of 'How good do you think BHP is now?' Again, in echoes of those affected by the foot and mouth disease, these community members (including mine employees) expressed a distrust and powerlessness in respect for authorities such as local, state and federal governments who had been keen supporters of the mine as well as in relation to BHP Billiton itself (Nerlich and Doring 2005;Phillipson, Lowe and Carroll 2002).…”

Placing Livestock in Landscape Studies: Pastures New or Out to Graze?

“…The 2001 Foot and Mouth Disease Outbreak in the UK inspired artists (Yarwood, 2005), poets (Nerlich & Doring, 2005) and musicians (Yarwood & Charlton, 2009) to record how significant livestock are to everyday farming landscapes. If burning cattle pyres were shocking intrusions into taken-for-granted rural landscapes, then the silent fields they left behind served to underline the importance of livestock to the sights, smells and experiences of the countryside.…”

Sociology of Rural Life

“…These included a linguistic analysis of the representation of the disease in the UK media (Nerlich et al 2002, Nerlich 2004, Nerlich and Döring 2005, the impact FMD had upon rural children ) and the status and role of science within the policy to cull (Wright and Nerlich 2006). For example, Nerlich et al (2002) accused the government of relying on 'frames' of belief on what to do in certain crises and that the case of FMD highlighted this problem.…”

“…For example, their respondents discussed the disinfection of vehicles along rural roads -and the fact that the very effectiveness of this form of biosecurity was unclear. Nerlich and Döring (2005) were similarly concerned to position the reflections of those experiencing the FMD epidemic first-hand centrally inside their analysis. They drew together the poetry that emerged in 2001 and in the wake of FMD.…”