A Future for Regional Australia: Escaping Global Misfortune

by Ian Gray , Geoffrey Lawrence

• ISBN13: 9780521807531
• ISBN10: 0521807530
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-10-01
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This book interprets the predicament faced by Australia's regional people from their own perspective and proposes a means by which they can act together to find a secure future under globalization. It argues that neoliberalism in combination with its "real world" effects in economic policy are driving regional Australia further into social, environmental and economic decay. The book will be of great interest to all concerned about the future of regional Australia, and will make a lively and relevant text for students studying the social sciences in the countryside or in the major cities.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	viii
Glossary	ix
Map: Australia's Population Distribution	x
The Global Misfortune of Regional Australia	1	(15)
Global Misfortune	4	(8)
The Challenges	12	(1)
The Structure and Argument of this Book	13	(1)
Further Reading	14	(2)
Understanding Globalisation	16	(20)
Competing Conceptions of Globalisation	17	(3)
Features of Globalisation	20	(5)
Causes and Contradictions of Globalisation	25	(6)
Consequences of Globalisation for Farming in the Advanced Nations	31	(3)
Conclusion	34	(1)
Further Reading	35	(1)
People versus Policy	36	(16)
Old Thinking	38	(3)
People Suffering Change	41	(1)
The Poverty of Rational Action Theory	42	(1)
Social Power Relations	43	(2)
New (Reflexive) Thinking	45	(3)
Perspectives on Farming and `The Rural'	48	(1)
Rural-Urban Relativities	49	(1)
Conclusion	50	(1)
Further Reading	51	(1)
The Social Transformation of Australian Farming	52	(19)
Restructuring Farming in Australia and Overseas	53	(11)
Social Restructuring	64	(5)
Conclusion	69	(1)
Further Reading	70	(1)
Voices from the Farm	71	(23)
Rural Ideology and Culture	72	(2)
Ideology and Power	74	(1)
Ideology and Restructuring	75	(4)
Australian Research Findings	79	(1)
Perceived Impacts of Restructuring	80	(4)
Perceptions of Causes	84	(7)
Conclusion	91	(2)
Further Reading	93	(1)
Regional Decline: Division amid Disadvantage	94	(22)
The Changing Spatial Distribution of Regional Population	95	(2)
Spatial Variation	97	(1)
Some Case Studies	98	(1)
Regional Social Conditions	99	(4)
Neoliberalism and Regional Economics	103	(1)
Policy Impacts	104	(5)
Postmodernity	109	(3)
The Transformation of Regional Policy	112	(2)
Conclusion	114	(1)
Further Reading	115	(1)
People Confronting Dependency	116	(21)
Economic Individualism	117	(2)
Some Regional Histories	119	(5)
The Relationship between Metropolitan and Regional Australia	124	(3)
Power and Interests	127	(1)
Community Resistance	128	(3)
The Presentation and Interpretation of Development Issues	131	(4)
Conclusion	135	(1)
Further Reading	136	(1)
Beyond Productivism and Environmental Degradation?	137	(22)
Colonial Agriculture: Compromising the Australian Landscape	138	(3)
The Entrenchment of Productivist Agriculture	141	(2)
Environmental Degradation in Australia	143	(3)
Genetic Engineering: The Latest in Productivist Agriculture?	146	(3)
Greening and the Organic Option	149	(2)
The Prospects for Sustainable Agriculture in Australia	151	(6)
Conclusion	157	(1)
Further Reading	158	(1)
New Cultures for Old	159	(22)
Rural Tradition in the Context of Globalisation	160	(2)
The Nature of Tradition	162	(1)
Theories of Detraditionalisation	163	(1)
Farming Tradition	163	(1)
The Detraditionalisation of Farming	164	(1)
Newcomers	165	(1)
Farm Succession and Inheritance	166	(2)
Pluriactivity	168	(2)
Farmer Knowledge	170	(1)
Values	171	(1)
The Trajectory of Change	172	(1)
The Detraditionalisation of Rural Community	173	(3)
Structural Differentiation	176	(1)
Cultural Differentiation	177	(2)
The End of Rural Australia?	179	(1)
Further Reading	180	(1)
The New Millennium: Pathways and Policies	181	(28)
Neoliberal Hegemony	182	(2)
Neoliberal Inconsistencies	184	(1)
Reflexivity and Social Change	185	(2)
Developing Alternatives to Productivism and Neoliberal Countrymindedness	187	(1)
Sustainable Regional Development	188	(5)
Some Limitations of Sustainable Regional Development	193	(2)
The Weakness of a Communitarian Solution	195	(1)
Institutional Incapacity	196	(3)
Prospects for Regional Autonomy	199	(1)
A Regional Solution	199	(2)
Regional Social Capital	201	(1)
Regional Government	202	(1)
Institutional Change	203	(2)
Equity and Sustainability	205	(3)
Further Reading	208	(1)
Bibliography	209	(34)
Index	243