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Agriculture and the Generation Problem
Despite predictions that they are destined to disappear, smallholder or family farms still number more than 500 million worldwide, and account for more than 90 percent of all the world’s farm units and 80 percent of the world’s food. However, the world over, smallholder farmer populations are ageing, and many of them have no successor. Some young rural men and women are turning away from farming in favour of more urban livelihoods, but others, who would like to farm, are confronted by the narrowing and sometimes complete closure of access to land, along with other barriers to their entry into farming. This points to the need for attention to the dynamics of intergenerational relations in rural communities.
In this unique exploration of relations between the generations in agrarian societies, Agriculture and the Generation Problem examines the dynamics of the transfer of agrarian resources and opportunities between the generations in rural communities, and argues that we must take generational relations seriously if we are to understand the future of farming and the fate of future generations in rural areas.
In this unique exploration of relations between the generations in agrarian societies, Agriculture and the Generation Problem examines the dynamics of the transfer of agrarian resources and opportunities between the generations in rural communities, and argues that we must take generational relations seriously if we are to understand the future of farming and the fate of future generations in rural areas.
160 pages, Paperback
Published March 2, 2020
About the author
Ben White
12 booksLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Ben White is an emeritus professor of rural sociology at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague, the Netherlands. From 1997-2006 he was also Professor Extraordinary in Social Sciences, University of Amsterdam.
His research has focused mainly on processes of agrarian change and the anthropology and history of childhood and youth. He has been engaged in research on these issues in Indonesia since the early 1970s. He is a founder member of the Land Deal Politics Initiative (www.iss.nl/ldpi), and the Emancipatory Rural Politics Initiative (www.iss.nl/erpi).
Ben White is an emeritus professor of rural sociology at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague, the Netherlands. From 1997-2006 he was also Professor Extraordinary in Social Sciences, University of Amsterdam.
His research has focused mainly on processes of agrarian change and the anthropology and history of childhood and youth. He has been engaged in research on these issues in Indonesia since the early 1970s. He is a founder member of the Land Deal Politics Initiative (www.iss.nl/ldpi), and the Emancipatory Rural Politics Initiative (www.iss.nl/erpi).
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
November 3, 2026
Excellent analytical synthesis of youth/generation studies with agrarian transition literature. God bless this series
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