The experiences of different groups in rural settings are of significant importance to the study of rural geography itself. In particular, the experiences of both young people and travellers, often labelled as "others", are important in the way they provide a different perspective on rural spaces and cultures from the common `productivist' and `idyllic' cultural views. However, because they are minority groups and "different" from the "normal" majority, young people and travellers experience significant stereotyping from countryside cultures. This impacts on their experiences of rural space and culture.
In rural settings, young peoples' experiences are predominantly `nature' and agriculture based, but can also be heavily influenced by social elements such as parents, the community and social hierarchies that exist in these rural spaces. A number of studies have been recently undertaken to investigate the previously unexplored experiences of children in rural spaces. Many of the studies found that, as expected, children experienced rural spaces and cultures in an `idyllic' way. One scholar noted that `Deeply shaded by the legacies of romanticism' the rural idyll abounds with `the critical notions of innocence and naturalness' (Jones, 1997: 164).
Most children around the ages of eight to ten, as reported in a study undertaken in the rural setting of Clutha Valley Primary School in South Dunedin and the urban setting of North East Valley Normal in Dunedin, have had agricultural and natural experiences of rural New Zealand. One subject interviewed during the course of the study remarked how he went `eeling', `riding motorbikes', `running around in the paddocks', `getting muddy from working on the farm' and `working hard at hay...
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...ocal authorities, so that they have very little space with which to move. As a result, they tend to frequent areas of rural towns and villages that offer spaciousness and a sense of freedom, such as village greens, fields, and skate parks.
Because minority groups such as young people and travellers are "beyond dominant rural culture" and different to the rural majority, they are classed as others. This classification, mainly rising out of the productivist and idyllic countryside cultures, significantly influences the way the two minority groups live, and so their experiences are to a large degree shaped by these stereotypes. However, it has been found that both groups enjoy `nature' and agricultural-based experiences and so have a good understanding of rurality. Despite this, a number of differences exist between the experiences of young people and travellers.
Small towns, quaint and charming, ideally picturesque for a small family to grow up in with a white picket fence paired up with the mother, father and the 2.5 children. What happens when that serene local town, exuberantly bustling with business, progressively loses the aspects that kept it alive? The youth, boisterous and effervescent, grew up surrounded by the local businesses, schools and practices, but as the years wear on, living in that small town years down the road slowly grew to be less appealing. In The Heartland and the Rural Youth Exodus by Patrick J. Carr and Maria Kefalas equally argue that “small towns play an unwitting part in their own decline (Carr and Kefalas 33) when they forget to remember the “untapped resource of the
agricultural development, they wanted to earn their own living on their own land. The homesteader's felt that by moving to the West would provide them wonder and promise. Loy states, (2001, p.45), Shane' shows the coming of wheat farmers who fenced in the open range to protect their crops.' Shane' portrays the on-going conflict between the homesteaders and the ranchers. The ranchers who occupy the tiny town and are led by greedy Mr Ryker feel the land taken by the homesteaders is their land. The ranchers increasingly terrorise the homesteaders in hope that they will disperse from their homes.
The discussion of children and school also gives well meaning of an organized and well-balanced village the people have put together, one the average parent would want their children raised in. “They tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play, and their talk was still of the classroom and the teacher, of books and reprimands (p.445).” The thought of children playing also illustrates of a positive outlook for the rest of the story, a sense of happiness.
Labelling our world has been a human constant; it’s how the human world is rationalized. It’s something we all do in order to asses what we have and what we need to do. Labels are used for everything, whether it be people, language, or a country, and by labelling things we set them apart by the rest and decide on our stance accordingly. In his article “Lonely Places” Pico Iyer labels the countries he visited as lonely places and explains why these countries do not fit in with the rest and why they’re isolated. From the start, with Iyer’s explanation of the ritual he has with his friends in Cuba, the readers get a sense of what exactly he means by a lonely place. Describing the atmosphere in those countries the author tries to justify his reasoning for labelling these countries as lonely places. Labelling countries as “lonely places” is too biased and condescending because these places aren’t really lonely, and the term lonely adds a negative connotation
Reading Chapter four of Ethnic Studies Issues and Approaches, by Philip Q. Yang, one receives a profound understanding of ethnic stratification. First of all, Yang describes ethnic stratification as a “institutionalized ethnic inequality” (61). This definition means the system of ethnic/social rules allowing certain ethnic groups to have access to more wealth and resources, which is unfair to the minority groups. There is a division between majority and minority groups, this is based on who is given more power, wealth and resources not because of a larger number of an ethnicity group. According to Yang, White people are the majority in the United States, but they are called majority for their share of wealth/power unlike the minority group.
On one of my parents’ first dates together, my father described cattle they drove past as “amazing creatures” telling my mother someday he would like to have land and livestock of his own. That wish to transition from the big city to the country led him to buy a house in the middle of nowhere Indiana, soon raising his own amazing livestock. Growing up, I often complained about the amount of work living on a farm entailed, from cleaning pens to taking care of my 4-H animals. But my dad never complained because such duties were his reward for starting an idea from scratch. Following his footsteps in pursuit of a dream of my own, I chose to attend a large university where I studied abroad to contrast and challenge my rural perspective. Through that transition, I began to respect the difficulties my father experienced following his goal. And while the responsibilities he undertakes are stressful and uncertain, I now
Physical surroundings (such as a home in the countryside) in works of literary merit such as “Good Country People”, “Everyday Use”, and “Young Goodman Brown” shape psychological and moral traits of the characters, similarly and differently throughout the stories.
Knox, Paul, and Sllie Marston. "Chapter 8 Food and Agriculture." In Human Geography: Places and Regions in Global Context. Glenview, Il: Pearson, 2013. 266-298.
...at small farms constitute 90 percent of the world’s farms and employment of 1.3 billion people. This dominates agriculture in developing countries because two-thirds of the 3 billion rural people in the world live off the income generated by farmers managing some 500 million small farms (Halberg & Müller, 2012, p.21). Additionally, there are benefits to land conservation for local communities that involves reduced environmental hazards, improvement of water quality from ground recharge, economic gains from agricultural production from exporting, and the natural settings that bring tourism generating the economy (McMahon & Urban, 2010 p.2). It is only through the awareness of this informational insight into the differences between community types and their transitions throughout time that the public can explore and discover economic incentives for rural communities.
The two major communities that individuals live in are urban and rural. Both types have both positive and negative aspects. The focus of this paper is on rural communities. From my research rural environments are not as popular as urban ones; however, the citizens who live in these communities are very happy with the lifestyle they chose. The word rural is generally associated with communities that lack accessibility to public services such as transit, shopping, and entertainment. This is generally used in communities where farming is a primary occupation. In my study I interviewed three individuals who identify as living in a rural community.
influence in the farmers’ point of view. The farmers in the book translate to adults in real
As farmers and small farming communities become more and more distanced from the land and one another, a greater dissatisfaction results in the farmer's perception of his/her life. In Kent Meyers' novel, "The River Warren," Two-Speed Crandall becomes a victim of this trend. To understand why this dissatisfaction is becoming more prevalent, we must look at the decline of more traditional methods of farming in favor of contemporary agriculture. Also, we must explore the disintegration of community in the lives of rural farmers. These two factors are inevitably correlated; a transition to industrial, corporate farming leads to the farmer feeling less a part of a farming community.
Backpackers are often perceived as disruptive and that they have a negative impact on the destination they are visiting. Many hostels have refused to accommodate large amounts of Australian backpackers due to the reckless behaviour they engage in while staying at the hostels. This perception has come to the attention of hostel owners that international backpackers are considered to be more pleasant than Australian backpackers. The perception of backpackers occurs through local news stories which are usually about the reckless behaviour experienced in pubs and clubs. Some positives would be the income and business that local farmers and communities would be gaining from the backpackers. The report is going to show the positive and negative aspects of backpacker tourism and how the local community is affected. By gathering news articles, conducting surveys and interviews the impact that backpacker tourists have on the community will be understood further. Backpackers are tourists who want to see more of the destination they are staying in while looking for ways to save money. Many backpackers prefer to stay in hostels for the social aspect and also because it is cheap. Backpackers tend to come from European countries (SATC, 2008) and this was supported by the surveys conducted for this report that showed many backpackers who are staying in Adelaide said they came from Europe (Author’s Own, 20014). Mainly people said Germany; there were some from France and Austria also. These backpacker tourist types also stay for longer than the average tourist (figure 3). Many backpackers travel to Adelaide due to the laid back environment and attitude and to see the architecture of the historic buildings within Adelaide. Many go to the landmark...
There are two kinds of factors why rural people seek for urban life. The first one is urban pull factor. They dream for higher wages, better housing and utilities, better school and hospital, more jobs opportunity, and more experience that they can get it all from a living in big cities as they think. The second one is urban push factor. We know that most of rural areas people are farmers. There’,s not much else to do anymore in the village but wait for harvest time and without higher level of education, availability of media, or facilities that they need, they might be stimulated to move to urban areas.
Ethnoscapes abound in today’s society. The concept of ethnoscapes can be represented by ethnic presence, difference and change. These aspects are present in today’s urban areas. This essay will evaluate the concept of ethnoscapes based on ethnic presence, difference and change in urban areas. It will then go on to analyse the meaning of the ‘on the ground’ theory and how ethnoscapes relate to other conceptual approaches such as segregation, multicultural city and ethnic economies. The final part of the essay will link together ethnic presence, difference and change with segregation, multicultural city and ethnic economies by using examples from tutorial 5 based on the knowledge of grounded theory.