Journal of Rural Studies最新文献_第7页

End of life, a good death? Navigating end-of-life decisions for working mules (Equus asinus × Equus caballus) in Nepal: Ethical, cultural, and practical perspectives 生命的终结，一个美好的死亡？尼泊尔工作骡子（Equus asinus × Equus caballus）的临终决定：伦理、文化和实践观点

IF 5.7 1区社会学 Q1 GEOGRAPHY

Journal of Rural Studies

Pub Date : 2025-10-06 DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103874

Tamlin Watson , Sajana Thapa , Caroline Nye , Laura M. Kubasiewicz

This paper investigates end-of-life decisions for working mules in Nepal, drawing on semi-structured interviews, observations and surveys conducted in the mountainous Gorkha region. The authors contemplate the relationship of humans and mules, exploring how interconnecting influences affect the welfare of mules when their working lives are enduringly concluded. In remote regions in Nepal when mules are permanently retired from work, limited options are available to equid-owning communities, where political systems keep marginalised communities marginalised. So, for guidance in decision making, these communities turn to the sociocultural systems that relate humanity to belief systems such as spirituality, ethics, morality, and social values; we explore how mules find themselves positioned within these systems. Consequences of redundancy within this population meant an ‘out of work’ mule's future care, in these remote mountain regions, may range from limited care, decreasing care, abandonment, or permanent incarceration (until the equid dies). This article draws lightly on Judith Butler's concept of grievability to apprehend the precarity, disposability, mournability and relational entanglements of working equids with their owners at the end of their working lives. This study contributes to a small but growing body of research investigating what end of life means for equids, how owners make decisions about end of life, and what impact this may have for working mules who have spent their life in the service of humans, specifically adding to the paucity of literature relating to how this translates for working equids in Nepal.

本文通过在尼泊尔廓尔喀山区进行的半结构化访谈、观察和调查，调查了尼泊尔工作骡子的临终决定。作者思考了人类和骡子之间的关系，探索了当骡子的工作生活永久结束时，相互关联的影响是如何影响它们的福利的。在尼泊尔的偏远地区，当骡子永远退出工作时，拥有马匹的社区的选择有限，那里的政治制度使边缘化社区被边缘化。因此，为了指导决策，这些社区转向将人类与信仰体系联系起来的社会文化体系，如灵性、伦理、道德和社会价值观；我们将探索骡子如何在这些系统中找到自己的位置。在这些偏远的山区，人口冗余的后果意味着“失业”骡子的未来护理可能包括有限的护理，减少护理，遗弃或永久监禁（直到马科动物死亡）。本文借鉴了朱迪思·巴特勒（Judith Butler）的悲情概念，以理解在工作生涯结束时，工作马匹与主人之间的不稳定性、可弃置性、可怜性和关系纠葛。这项研究有助于研究马科动物的生命终结意味着什么，主人如何做出生命终结的决定，以及这对为人类服务的工作骡子可能产生的影响，特别是增加了文献的缺乏，这些文献如何转化为尼泊尔工作的马。

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引用次数: 0

Regional drivers or local constraints? Spatial patterns and development pathways of specialized villages in Henan, China 区域性驱动因素还是地方性制约因素？河南特色村空间格局与发展路径

IF 5.7 1区社会学 Q1 GEOGRAPHY

Journal of Rural Studies

Pub Date : 2025-10-04 DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103877

Nalin Wu , Zhanpeng Liang , Mengwei Liu , Jianuo Zhang , Yuchen Guo , Jiajun Qiao

Specialized Villages (SVs) have emerged as a pivotal strategy for rural revitalization in China. Yet, the regional conditions underpinning their formation and sustainability remain underexplored. This study examines the spatial heterogeneity and drivers of SV evolution in Henan Province, employing stepwise regression analysis, GeoDetector, and Shapley value decomposition to analyze the contributions and interactions of climate, accessibility, economic development, and governance factors on SV formation, disappearance, persistence, and new formation rates. Results reveal that higher rainfall and temperature stability promote SV persistence and formation by reducing production risks, while peripheral regions with improved road accessibility exhibit higher SV new formation rates and lower disappearance rates. Conversely, economically developed regions experience higher SV disappearance rates, highlighting the paradoxical interplay between prosperity and specialization sustainability. Strong grassroots leadership and regional branding capacity further enhance SV persistence. These findings underscore the importance of place-based strategies in SV planning, suggesting that aligning interventions with local climatic, infrastructural, and institutional conditions can foster sustainable rural specialization. The methodological framework provides a replicable approach for analyzing SV dynamics in diverse regional contexts, offering valuable insights for rural policy and planning under the broader goal of sustainable rural revitalization.

特色村已成为中国乡村振兴的关键战略。然而，支撑其形成和可持续性的区域条件仍未得到充分探索。本文采用逐步回归分析、GeoDetector和Shapley值分解等方法，分析了气候、可达性、经济发展和治理等因素对河南省SV形成、消失、持续和新形成速率的影响及其相互作用。结果表明，较高的降雨量和温度稳定性通过降低生产风险来促进SV的持续和形成，而道路可达性较好的外围地区SV的新形成率较高，消失率较低。相反，经济发达地区的SV消失率更高，凸显了繁荣与专业化可持续性之间矛盾的相互作用。强大的基层领导和区域品牌能力进一步增强了SV的持久性。这些发现强调了基于地方的战略在SV规划中的重要性，表明将干预措施与当地气候、基础设施和制度条件相结合可以促进可持续的农村专业化。该方法框架为分析不同区域背景下SV动态提供了一种可复制的方法，为可持续乡村振兴的更广泛目标下的乡村政策和规划提供了有价值的见解。

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引用次数: 0

Understanding rural energy transitions through the spatial dynamics between rural change and energy system transformation 从农村变化与能源系统转型的空间动态关系看农村能源转型

IF 5.7 1区社会学 Q1 GEOGRAPHY

Journal of Rural Studies

Pub Date : 2025-10-01 DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103895

Francesca Uleri , Federica Viganò , Monica Musolino

Globally, rural areas provide resources and numerous locations for fueling the energy transition. Energy transitions have the potential to reshape the physical and social dimensions of rural territories. Despite evident interdependencies between the evolution of rurality and the progression of the energy transition in the rural world, the analysis of their interconnectedness remains markedly limited. The conceptualization of a ‘rural energy transition’ is still scarcely mentioned in social research, and the necessity of further attention to new rural spatialities characterized by processes of materialization and imagination of the energy transition is increasingly evident. By bringing together the analysis of energy transition and rural change – which usually appear as separate academic debates – this contribution seeks to understand the rural energy transitions by referring to Lefebvre's Theory of the Production of Space. In light of this, the paper proposes an analytical instrument for grasping and interpreting the complexity of the localized rural energy transitions in a novel integrative way that puts at the heart of its comprehension the relation of co-production between energy transition space and the totality of the rural space. The article offers a coherent approach for both analyzing rural energy transition by integrating material and immaterial dimensions, representations and imaginaries, and multiple social practices that are inevitably anchored to wider rural changes; and concomitantly understanding how they develop along a continuum ranging from extractive to emancipatory logics.

在全球范围内，农村地区为推动能源转型提供了资源和众多地点。能源转型有可能重塑农村地区的自然和社会层面。尽管农村的演变与农村世界能源转型的进展之间存在明显的相互依赖性，但对它们之间相互联系的分析仍然明显有限。“农村能源转型”的概念化在社会研究中仍然很少被提及，进一步关注以能源转型的物化和想象过程为特征的新农村空间性的必要性日益明显。通过将能源转型和农村变化的分析结合起来——这通常是作为单独的学术辩论出现的——本贡献试图通过参考列斐伏尔的空间生产理论来理解农村能源转型。鉴于此，本文提出了一种分析工具，以一种新颖的综合方式把握和解释局部农村能源转型的复杂性，其理解的核心是能源转型空间与农村空间整体之间的协同生产关系。本文通过整合物质与非物质维度、表征与想象，以及必然与更广泛的农村变化相关联的多种社会实践，为分析农村能源转型提供了一种连贯的方法；同时理解它们是如何沿着从抽取逻辑到解放逻辑的连续体发展的。

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引用次数: 0

Mapping rural food poverty: The impact of rurality on consumers' access to food using an ‘at risk of food poverty index’ 绘制农村粮食贫困地图：利用“粮食贫困风险指数”研究农村对消费者获取粮食的影响

IF 5.7 1区社会学 Q1 GEOGRAPHY

Journal of Rural Studies

Pub Date : 2025-09-29 DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103898

Natasha McClelland , Sinéad Furey , Paul McKenzie , Lynsey Hollywood

Food poverty (the inability to access sufficient, healthy food in a socially acceptable way) is a complex and multifaceted problem that is receiving considerable public and political attention. This research examined the structural causes of food poverty to determine if geographical disparities exist between rural and urban locations, in respect of food affordability, accessibility and availability, in the study region of Northern Ireland. This study developed an ‘At Risk of Food Poverty Index’ and utilised Geographic Information Systems to apply spatial analysis techniques to identify Census Small Areas at greatest potential risk of food poverty. The research found exposure to geographic variances in relation to food access impacts on food poverty risk. Results showed spatial variations exist in relation to rural and urban food poverty and rural dwellers face greater disadvantage in obtaining nutritionally adequate diets. The Index provides policymakers with a high-resolution model from which to target resources to vulnerable areas.

粮食贫穷（无法以社会可接受的方式获得充足、健康的食物）是一个复杂和多方面的问题，正在受到公众和政治的相当重视。这项研究审查了粮食贫困的结构性原因，以确定在北爱尔兰的研究区域，农村和城市地区之间在粮食的可负担性、可获得性和可获得性方面是否存在地理差异。本研究开发了“粮食贫困风险指数”，并利用地理信息系统应用空间分析技术来确定粮食贫困潜在风险最大的人口普查小区域。研究发现，与粮食获取有关的地理差异对粮食贫困风险的影响。结果表明，城乡粮食贫困存在空间差异，农村居民在获取营养充足膳食方面面临更大的劣势。该指数为政策制定者提供了一个高分辨率的模型，据此将资源投向脆弱地区。

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引用次数: 0

Mapping stakeholder dynamics: Understanding knowledge, values, and engagement in the Murray-Darling Basin 绘制利益相关者动态：了解墨累-达令盆地的知识、价值和参与

IF 5.7 1区社会学 Q1 GEOGRAPHY

Journal of Rural Studies

Pub Date : 2025-09-28 DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103891

Paul Hong , Yongping Wei , Frederick Bouckaert , Kim Johnston , Brian Head

Poor implementation of stakeholder engagement (SE) in water governance has reduced decision-making legitimacy and damaged stakeholder relations. While many theoretical studies agree that the effectiveness of SE depends not only on the structure of the network but also on the composition of its stakeholders, these studies often remain largely conceptual and non-operational. We develop an explicit and quantitative approach to measuring and assessing stakeholders’ opinions and interests, knowledge and expertise, and engagement networks using content analysis, text mining, topic modeling, and social network analysis. The data were sourced from public comments (submissions) on water resources policy initiatives under the Basin Plan in the Murray–Darling Basin. We find that the agricultural sector, characterized by dominant participation, coherent knowledge, and highly negative opinions, exerted the greatest impact among all stakeholder groups. The federal government showed strong centralization but lacked efficiency and brokerage capacity. Academia and environmental advocacy groups demonstrated high knowledge diversity but scored low on coherence and participation. Indigenous individuals and groups consistently scored below average across all metrics except for knowledge diversity. Our approach provides a diagnostic lens to explicitly identify critical fragilities in SE configurations and offers practical insights to improve stakeholder engagement and governance outcomes.

在水治理中，利益相关者参与（SE）的实施不力降低了决策的合法性，损害了利益相关者关系。虽然许多理论研究都认为，企业社会服务的有效性不仅取决于网络的结构，还取决于其利益相关者的组成，但这些研究往往在很大程度上停留在概念性和非操作性上。我们开发了一种明确的定量方法来衡量和评估利益相关者的意见和兴趣、知识和专业知识，以及使用内容分析、文本挖掘、主题建模和社会网络分析的参与网络。这些数据来自墨累-达令盆地流域计划下的水资源政策倡议的公众意见（意见书）。我们发现，农业部门在所有利益相关者群体中发挥了最大的影响，其特点是主导参与、连贯的知识和高度负面的意见。联邦政府表现出强烈的中央集权，但缺乏效率和中介能力。学术界和环境倡导团体表现出较高的知识多样性，但在连贯性和参与度方面得分较低。除知识多样性外，土著个人和群体在所有指标上的得分一直低于平均水平。我们的方法提供了一个诊断视角来明确地识别SE配置中的关键脆弱性，并提供了实际的见解来改进涉众参与和治理结果。

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引用次数: 0

Social innovation and their legitimation processes within rural developments in east Germany 东德农村发展中的社会创新及其合法化进程

IF 5.7 1区社会学 Q1 GEOGRAPHY

Journal of Rural Studies

Pub Date : 2025-09-27 DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103889

Sabine Hielscher , Friederike Rohde

Rural areas in Europe are frequently marked by limited economic opportunities, poor job prospects, and declining infrastructures, which sometimes stand in stark contrast to urban living conditions. In the new German federal states, rural areas are highly diverse, with significant variations in population density, proximity to major cities, and socio-economic conditions. Citizens living in these areas have been part of major social upheavals and needed to rebuild and reorganize civil society activities and infrastructures after the German reunification. Despite these challenges, some of these areas have increasingly become hubs for social innovation, where diverse groups of actors collaborate to develop creative responses to local and regional challenges. However, despite growing political interests in these activities, the legitimacy of civil society initiatives in new rural governance arrangements remains contested and ambiguous. Initiatives often lack local support. Significant efforts are required from civil society initiatives to showcase their relevance to local and regional actors and thus legitimize their ways of organizing, doing and thinking. Drawing on concepts linked to transformative social innovation, legitimation processes, and governance beyond the state, this study examines legitimation as part of social innovation processes between multiple actors and their translocal networks in rural areas and asks how they shape social changes in regional developments. Empirically, the study builds on case study work that was conducted in the Harz in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Our paper brings to the fore that legitimation is not merely a success factor or part of an empowerment process but a crucial prerequisite for civil society initiatives to drive change in new governance arrangements and institutionalize new ways of thinking, doing, and organizing.

欧洲农村地区的经济机会有限，就业前景不佳，基础设施落后，有时与城市生活条件形成鲜明对比。在新的德国联邦州，农村地区高度多样化，在人口密度、与主要城市的接近程度和社会经济条件方面存在显著差异。生活在这些地区的公民是重大社会动荡的一部分，需要在德国统一后重建和重组民间社会活动和基础设施。尽管存在这些挑战，但其中一些领域已日益成为社会创新的中心，不同群体的行动者在这些领域开展合作，制定应对地方和区域挑战的创造性对策。然而，尽管这些活动的政治利益越来越大，但民间社会倡议在新的农村治理安排中的合法性仍然存在争议和模糊。倡议往往缺乏当地的支持。民间社会倡议需要作出重大努力，展示其与地方和区域行动者的相关性，从而使其组织、行动和思维方式合法化。本研究借鉴了与变革性社会创新、合法化过程和国家以外治理相关的概念，将合法化作为农村地区多个行动者及其跨地方网络之间社会创新过程的一部分进行了考察，并探讨了它们如何影响区域发展中的社会变化。在经验上，该研究建立在在德国萨克森-安哈特州哈茨进行的案例研究工作的基础上。我们的论文指出，合法性不仅是一个成功因素或赋权过程的一部分，而且是公民社会倡议推动新治理安排变革和使新的思维、行动和组织方式制度化的关键先决条件。

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引用次数: 0

Digital capability and rural household development resilience: A double machine learning approach 数字能力与农村家庭发展弹性：双重机器学习方法

IF 5.7 1区社会学 Q1 GEOGRAPHY

Journal of Rural Studies

Pub Date : 2025-09-27 DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103900

Hanjie Wang, Hao Leng, Wenpeng Huang, Jiali Han

This paper examines the effect of digital capability on the rural household development resilience. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), we first measure the development resilience of rural households using moment estimation, defined as the probability that a household's welfare exceeds a specified threshold at a given time. Subsequently, we employ the double machine learning model to evaluate the effect of digital capability on household resilience. The results indicate that digital capability significantly enhances the rural household development resilience. Further mechanism analyses reveal that digital capability boosts development resilience primarily through the effects of information acquisition, financial inclusion, income growth, and asset accumulation. Additionally, the resilience-enhancing effect of digital capability is particularly beneficial for disadvantaged groups with low level of development resilience, limited human capital and social capital, contributing to inclusive development. Accordingly, this paper argues that fostering digital capability is crucial for the sustainable development of rural households.

本文考察了数字能力对农村家庭发展弹性的影响。利用中国家庭面板研究（CFPS）的数据，我们首先使用矩估计来衡量农村家庭的发展弹性，矩估计被定义为一个家庭的福利在给定时间超过特定阈值的概率。随后，我们采用双机器学习模型来评估数字能力对家庭弹性的影响。结果表明，数字化能力显著增强了农户的发展韧性。进一步的机制分析表明，数字能力提升发展弹性主要是通过信息获取、普惠金融、收入增长和资产积累的影响。此外，数字能力的复原力增强效应对发展复原力水平低、人力资本和社会资本有限的弱势群体尤其有利，有助于包容性发展。因此，本文认为培育数字能力对农村家庭的可持续发展至关重要。

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引用次数: 0

The impact of mental health on the technical efficiency of Chinese arable farmers 心理健康对中国耕地农民技术效率的影响

IF 5.7 1区社会学 Q1 GEOGRAPHY

Journal of Rural Studies

Pub Date : 2025-09-26 DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103897

Shijia Kang , Fabian Frick , Johannes Sauer

The importance of farmers' mental health has increasingly attracted the attention of researchers in recent years. Our study uses data from arable farmers in China to estimate the determinants of mental health and its impact on farm efficiency. We employ principal-component factor analysis to derive individual depression scores and an endogenous stochastic frontier model to robustly explore the relationship between farmers' mental health and their technical efficiency. We find that age, education, training, trust in surroundings, ICT use, and rural development are positively related to mental health, while low household income and household illness show negative associations. After addressing the endogeneity issue, mental health is positively related to farm efficiency, and this effect is moderated by farmers' education level and participation in off-farm activities. Having a male household head is negatively associated with decreased technical efficiency, while the age of the household head and trust in networks enhance it. Based on the results, policy recommendations include fostering farmers’ education and providing targeted support.

近年来，农民心理健康的重要性日益引起研究者的关注。我们的研究使用了中国耕地农民的数据来估计心理健康的决定因素及其对农业效率的影响。本研究采用主成分因子分析获得个体抑郁得分，并采用内生随机前沿模型对农户心理健康与技术效率之间的关系进行了实证研究。我们发现，年龄、教育、培训、对环境的信任、信息通信技术的使用和农村发展与心理健康呈正相关，而低收入和家庭疾病呈负相关。在解决内生性问题后，心理健康与农场效率正相关，且这种效应受到农民受教育程度和非农活动参与程度的调节。男性户主与技术效率下降呈负相关，而户主的年龄和对网络的信任则提高了技术效率。根据研究结果，提出政策建议，包括促进农民教育和提供有针对性的支持。

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引用次数: 0

Revisiting the concept of ‘decent work’ for agriculture 重新审视农业“体面工作”的概念

IF 5.7 1区社会学 Q1 GEOGRAPHY

Journal of Rural Studies

Pub Date : 2025-09-24 DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103872

Sandra Contzen , Michael Santhanam-Martin , Marion Beecher , Nathalie Hostiou , Ruth Nettle

While the topic of work in agriculture is gaining more interest from researchers, reflected in increasing scholarly publications, there has been little engagement with the ILO concept of decent work (DW). Yet DW has gained increased prominence due to its inclusion in the UN SDGs, attracting media attention and political discussion, and influencing current and new policies. Moreover, agriculture is a highly hazardous industry which, in many countries, is currently facing different changes and challenges, such as new technologies, climate or market changes, with relevant consequences for the agricultural workforce. Against this backdrop, it is timely to revisit the DW concept with regard to agriculture.

This paper follows from the second International Symposium of Work in Agriculture (ISWA), held in 2021, and aims to scrutinise the usefulness of the ILO's DW concept for research, policy and practice on work in agriculture. We do this based on our discussions during and after the ISWA, our expertise in the field and a review of key literature on decent work. The evidence collected indicates that the current formulation of the DW concept is inadequate to ensure decent work for all in the agriculture sector. We recommend expanding the DW concept with a more robust theoretical foundation, encompassing all categories of workers, incorporating the subjective dimension of agricultural work, and considering geographic scale more extensively to enhance DW's relevance for research, policy, and practice.

虽然越来越多的学术出版物反映了农业工作这一主题正引起研究人员的更多兴趣，但对国际劳工组织体面工作（DW）概念的接触很少。然而，由于其被纳入联合国可持续发展目标，吸引了媒体的关注和政治讨论，并影响了当前和新的政策，DW越来越受到重视。此外，农业是一个高度危险的行业，在许多国家，目前正面临各种变化和挑战，如新技术、气候或市场变化，对农业劳动力产生相关影响。在此背景下，重新审视与农业有关的DW概念是及时的。本文来自于2021年举行的第二届国际农业工作研讨会（ISWA），旨在审查国际劳工组织的DW概念对农业工作研究、政策和实践的有用性。我们这样做是基于我们在ISWA期间和之后的讨论、我们在该领域的专业知识以及对体面劳动关键文献的审查。收集到的证据表明，目前对最低工资概念的表述不足以确保农业部门所有人都有体面工作。我们建议以更坚实的理论基础扩展DW概念，包括所有类别的工人，纳入农业工作的主观维度，并更广泛地考虑地理规模，以增强DW与研究、政策和实践的相关性。

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引用次数: 0

Gender and credit: Inequalities in loan size and credit repayment performance? Evidence from Mali 性别与信贷：贷款规模和信贷偿还绩效的不平等？来自马里的证据

IF 5.7 1区社会学 Q1 GEOGRAPHY

Journal of Rural Studies

Pub Date : 2025-09-23 DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103888

Johanna Deiß , Tim Ölkers , Oliver Mußhoff

This study examines gender inequalities in loan sizes and explores potential discriminatory practices in the Malian credit market. Using data from a commercial bank, it first analyzes gender differences in loan size. To further assess treatment disparities, gender differences in credit repayment performance are analyzed and gender gaps across different numbers of loans investigated. The results show that female clients consistently receive statistically significantly smaller loans than male clients. Repayment performance findings are mixed: women are statistically significantly more likely to have small delays but statistically significantly less likely to have severe delays of over 30 days. These disparities suggest that loan officers may treat male and female clients differently, contributing to the literature on gender and credit in Mali.

本研究考察了贷款规模中的性别不平等，并探讨了马里信贷市场中潜在的歧视性做法。利用一家商业银行的数据，它首先分析了贷款规模的性别差异。为了进一步评估待遇差异，分析了信贷还款绩效中的性别差异，并调查了不同贷款数量的性别差距。结果显示，女性客户获得的贷款在统计上一直显著低于男性客户。还款表现的调查结果喜忧参半：从统计上看，女性出现轻微延迟的可能性更大，但从统计上看，出现超过30天的严重延迟的可能性更小。这些差异表明，信贷员对男性和女性客户的待遇可能不同，这有助于马里关于性别和信贷的文献。

引用次数: 0