Troubled Pastures, Troubled Pictures: French Agriculture and Contemporary Rural Sociology

Abstract

In contrast to those of other industrialized western European countries, France's agricultural community continued to represent the majority of the national population for a long time and only became one of many minority groups at the end of the twentieth century. It then came under the influence of various trends, sometimes conflicting but nevertheless presenting a certain sociological and political unity. With the weakening of the demographic, territorial, economic, and political foundations of the French agricultural population, rural sociologists are now required to present a new analysis and a revised assessment of its position in French society. The object of this article is to promote better understanding of the reasons behind the blurring of images and representations associated with French agriculture. It invites readers to review and understand the different facets of an imagery that presents a paradox compared with the ideological constructs associated with the historical record of farming and the farming profession. Working in the tradition of the French school of rural sociology, we have set out to offer a sense of the social realities that now represent the main areas of analysis for French and European rural sociology.

Staging agriculture during on-farm markets: How does French farmers' rationality influence their representation of rurality?

“…Farmers may represent stability as keepers of the traditions of an idealized past, but they can quickly come to stand for immobility, unable to keep up with modern life, find a spouse or continue to be steward of the land. Other scholars have shown evidence of these negative representations, notably through the portrayal of farmers as destroyers of the environment or the allies of capitalist firms and agribusinesses (Hervieu and Purseigle, 2008). If this imaginative universe holds a key role in understanding tourists' motivations for going into the countryside and onto the farm, it also raises the question of how the farming population is represented.…”

Farmer autonomy and the farming self

“…The substantial payment received by Swiss farmers from the State increases feelings of dependency and challenges the ideals of autonomy (for a French example, see Hervieu and Purseigle, 2008). Among Swiss farmers, the reception of state support bears the unofficial titles of "landscape civil servant" or "landscape gardener."…”

Social Sciences and Farmers in Switzerland: the Story of a Strange Absence

“…The story told in this paper will probably sound familiar to many. Most of Switzerland's neighbouring countries have witnessed a similar evolution of rural research (Hervieu and Purseigle, 2008). However, some unique aspects can be identified.…”