Gender as a social construct of quality of life within farm families practicing sustainable agriculture

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorMeares, Alisonen
dc.contributor.departmentSociologyen
dc.date.accessioned2014-03-14T21:29:21Zen
dc.date.adate2009-02-13en
dc.date.available2014-03-14T21:29:21Zen
dc.date.issued1995en
dc.date.rdate2009-02-13en
dc.date.sdate2009-02-13en
dc.description.abstractSustainable 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.en
dc.description.degreeMaster of Scienceen
dc.format.extentvii, 105 leavesen
dc.format.mediumBTDen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.otheretd-02132009-172509en
dc.identifier.sourceurlhttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-02132009-172509/en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/41104en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.relation.haspartLD5655.V855_1995.M437.pdfen
dc.relation.isformatofOCLC# 34371507en
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectsocial movementsen
dc.subjectfamily farmsen
dc.subject.lccLD5655.V855 1995.M437en
dc.titleGender as a social construct of quality of life within farm families practicing sustainable agricultureen
dc.typeThesisen
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten
thesis.degree.disciplineSociologyen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.levelmastersen
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Scienceen

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
LD5655.V855_1995.M437.pdf
Size:
49.7 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download

Collections

Masters Theses