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This paper analyses the potential impacts of a hypothetical implementation of the Income Stabilisation Tool (IST) in France for the field crops sector. The IST is a risk management tool available within the 2014–2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to support farmers facing a severe drop in their incomes. This analysis was conducted using a farm‐level model relying on expected utility theory and based on positive mathematical programming with risk. The model was applied to a sample of 1375 field crop farms in France derived from Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) data. Simulation results show that the uptake rate of the tool is relatively low, less than 37% in all scenarios. It is strongly dependent on CAP public support and on how much premium farmers have to pay. Highest uptake rates are observed in farms specialising in Other Field Crops, such as potatoes, pulses and sugar beet, and farms located in regions highly exposed to climatic risks. Previous experience with insurance favours the acceptance of the IST. Model results also show that the IST improves adopters' income and reduces income inequality. However, its impacts on crop diversity, measured by the Shannon index, are negative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To problematize the idea of peasant autonomy in old capitalist societies, this paper will explore the evolution of two phenomena in present‐day France: peasantry, commonly understood as relatively autonomous small family farms that rely on subsistence farming, and the neorural movement, that is, urban‐to‐rural migration that has a counter‐cultural connotation. While peasantry is believed to be disappearing, the neorural movement is charged with "deradicalization" because it distances itself from subsistence farming. The juxtaposition of both phenomena shows that capitalism has transformed the countryside, making it difficult to live from agriculture. In old capitalist countries, peasant autonomy is no longer about subsistence farming but about achieving an economic equilibrium that increases autonomy from market pressures created by high input prices and low output values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]