Browsing by Author "Meares, Alison"
Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- Community participation for conservation and development of natural resources: A summary of literature and report of research findingsGasteyer, S.; Flora, Cornelia B.; Fernández-Baca, Edith; Banerji, D.; Bastian, S.; Aleman, S.; Kroma, M.; Meares, Alison (2002)This paper reviews the available literature on participatory approaches to natural resource management, identifying nine specific elements that are common in literature. The authors explain how these elements are applied in several case studies. The paper also discusses the results from implementation of participatory approaches in community-based water quality protection initiatives, which illustrate the necessity of community participation in natural resource management.
- Gender as a social construct of quality of life within farm families practicing sustainable agricultureMeares, Alison (Virginia Tech, 1995)Sustainable agriculture constitutes an internationally recognized critique of conventional agricultural practices. The criteria defining sustainable agriculture are diverse and, in some cases, contradictory. However, proponents of sustainable agriculture do not aggressively question such diversity in the movement. This study attempts to highlight the variation in subjective meanings attached to sustainable agriculture, reflected in its goal to improve quality of life. The social construct of gender makes a difference in how these farmers define quality of life. This social construction in turn affects participation in the sustainable agriculture movement. At the root of these gendered differences is that life goals and daily experiences for men farmers within the family have changed significantly as their involvement in the movement has intensified. Much of what men emphasize in describing quality of life reflects the values the sustainable agriculture movement itself espouses; the collective identity of the sustainable agriculture movement resonates with these male farmers. For their wives, descriptions of quality of life are largely entwined with their multiple and highly elastic gendered roles and responsibilities on the farm, in the household, and in paid and unpaid work in the community, and much less with their involvement in the movement. Women’s life experiences on the farm and in the community are different from their husbands’ experiences, lending a distinctively gendered shape to quality of life. They report indicators of quality of life outside of the movement’s collective identity boundaries. Because women’s unique contribution to the farm and family are not institutionally recognized and addressed by the sustainable agriculture movement, the collective identity of the movement is gender-specific, reflecting a male normative.
- Local participation in research & extension for conservation & development of natural resources: A summary of approachesFlora, Cornelia B.; Gasteyer, S.; Fernández-Baca, Edith; Banerji, D.; Bastian, S.; Aleman, S.; Kroma, M.; Meares, Alison (2000)This paper explores the elements that lead communities to take action to protect ecosystem health. The operating assumption has been that the provision of information would be the essential ingredient in spurring communities to protect natural resources.