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Given the varied nature of resource dependent communities, the gendered experiences of women and men may vary in unexpected and contradictory ways. Building on a review and critique of existing theoretical approaches and studies of US and Canadian extractive resource communities in both the feminist and rural social science literature, we provide an analytical approach to engage with gender in the context of these dramatic changes. Our framework, which integrates key insights from recent feminist theorizing, summarizes emergent constructions of masculinity and femininity in a given context by emphasizing the possible contradictions along three broad lines: material, material-discursive, and discursive. (Contains 1 table.)

In this paper we hypothesize that farmers with a stronger valuation of family farming will be more resistant to converting farmland to tree plantations. Our survey data analysis from 106 farmers in northern Alberta reveals that general opposition to trees on farmland is the strongest predictor of farmers' resistance to the establishment of poplar tree plantations on privately-owned land. Valuation of family farming is the strongest determinant of resistance to trees on farmland. Among the potential intervening variables influencing support for tree plantations, including county, age, gender, number of children, and percent of income from farming, number of children and percent of income from farming had significant direct effects on valuation of family farming. This study suggests that economic incentives alone are unlikely to influence farmers' willingness to convert their land to non-traditional uses, and that intergenerational transfer of land, and its relationship to valuation of family farming, deserves further attention in rural sociological scholarship. (Contains 3 figures, 4 tables, and 5 footnotes.)

In this paper we hypothesize that farmers with a stronger valuation of family farming will be more resistant to converting farmland to tree plantations. Our survey data analysis from 106 farmers in northern Alberta reveals that general opposition to trees on farmland is the strongest predictor of farmers' resistance to the establishment of poplar tree plantations on privately-owned land. Valuation of family farming is the strongest determinant of resistance to trees on farmland. Among the potential intervening variables influencing support for tree plantations, including county, age, gender, number of children, and percent of income from farming, number of children and percent of income from farming had significant direct effects on valuation of family farming. This study suggests that economic incentives alone are unlikely to influence farmers' willingness to convert their land to non-traditional uses, and that intergenerational transfer of land, and its relationship to valuation of family farming, deserves further attention in rural sociological scholarship.

Collectively, current resource-development literature has given little attention to organizational features of ownership as important variables in community resilience. By drawing from six local buyout cases in Canada's forest sector, we reveal the complexity and numerous constraints on local ownership and expose a more nuanced context than most sociologists tend to consider. Our findings suggest that the meaning of local ownership and community resilience varies depending upon the composition (e.g., private vs. public; mill vs. forest license vs. coupled mill & forest license), type (social, cooperative, trust and/or direct-share ownership), extent of ownership (percentage of local versus extra-local shares), and the level of control (e.g., proportion of locally held seats on the Board of Directors) associated with ownership. Future research on local ownership should more carefully differentiate between the nature of local ownership and its associated outcomes.

Local control of natural resource processing facilities in small rural communities is often viewed as beneficial to community development. This paper employs social impact assessment tools to examine the social and economic effects of change in the ownership of forest products mills in two communities. Our analysis documents (1) the degree to which local ownership of the new, locally owned corporations led to local reinvestment of profits, and (2) whether the goals of the architects of these buyouts were realized: the maintenance of jobs, income, population, and a way of life. Overall, both communities were able to maintain jobs, population, and real estate values, and profits were reinvested in mill upgrades. After the buyouts, however, both communities experienced a rise and then a decline in community cohesion, and changes in local social and power relations, in which local ownership was short-lived; benefits to relationships within the community were mixed.

Women are the primary farm managers in Lesotho and therefore deserve special consideration in the implementation of any new agricultural technology. Eighty-two female Basotho farmers newly-involved in commercial irrigated vegetable production were interviewed to determine their receptivity and adjustment to irrigation systems. The time-use patterns of these agriculturalists were examined to determine the potential constraints imposed by the implementation of more labor-intensive agriculture. Further, respondents were queried as to their access to credit, extension agents, training, and as to their specific problems with irrigation. In addition to describing their responses, the analysis includes comparisons with female and male respondents involved in mechanized, dryland agriculture and with the responses of male irrigators. The findings suggest that among the primary threats to the long-term viability of irrigation systems in this environment are the time constraints faced by women irrigators. Time constraints may serve to exacerbate the other threats such as the 'donor-dependency syndrome' found among farmers in Lesotho. Suggestions for accommodating potential conflicts include educating women to hire additional laborers during peak labor periods, providing alternative sources of child care, and taking action to decrease dependency.

Byline: Pamela D. Neumann, Naomi T. Krogman, Barb R. Thomas This paper describes the differences between expert and public perceptions of plantation forestry and calls for greater public participation in the development and establishment of plantations. The debate over the social acceptability of varying land-uses is essentially a debate over how land is valued and the effects of land-use change on local peoples. This study reports the findings from 31 interviews with key informants, indicating central themes such as farming identity, trust and economic competition as important to an overall assessment of community perceptions of hybrid poplar plantations. Specifically, we suggest that all of these themes are linked to complex attachments to traditional rural land-use and fear of externally motivated change. Findings from this study contribute to a greater understanding of the public values at stake around tree plantations, where experts have emphasised ecological impacts and economic trade-offs and generally disregarded the social concerns raised above.

Byline: Leslie Treseder, Naomi T. Krogman The paper addresses the ability of forest co-management, within the Western Canadian provincial context, to co-exist with the industrial model of forestry. This paper draws on a two-year qualitative study of a new First Nation co-management process in Northern Alberta and a review of other First Nation forest co-management arrangements in Western Canada. Qualitative methods used included 23 semi-structured interviews with key co-management participants, non-participant observation of board and related meetings, and content analyses of previous board minutes. Our findings indicate that co-management has led to the incorporation of diverse values in forest management planning, cooperative relationships among parties to the Board, and shared decision making in forest management. We argue that co-management does not directly challenge the industrial model, but modifies it through a process of incremental change toward a more well-planned industrial presence in First Nation traditional territory. By giving a high priority to cultural sustainability criteria, First Nation participants in the co-management process in Northern Alberta challenge the forest industry to re-think the pace of development, the rates of return required to be profitable and measures to improve First Nation employment within the industry. Ultimately, tests of co-management success should incorporate First Nation priorities to maintain traditional and cultural practices in the context of industrial forestry. Such tests should evaluate the practice of provincial consultation requirements with First Nations, and cooperative efforts to develop Northern boreal forest resources. The success of co-management also depends upon industry practices to reduce the impacts of their activities on First Nation uses of the forest, and overall, on ecological evidence of sustainable forest management, including maintenance of biodiversity.

Department of Sociology, Utah State University, Logan UT 84322-0730 Department of Sociology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521 Journal of Asian and African Studies Vol. 28 (1993) pp. 162-179 [...]

Three parallel lines of inquiry regarding individuals' support for the environment have developed within the environmental social sciences. These include individuals' concern for the environment, research on private sphere pro-environmental behaviour (PEB), i.e. household actions seeking to improve the environment (e.g. buying better light bulbs), and more recently, ecological and carbon footprints. Researchers have noted that the correlates of this third form of support for the environment are not necessarily the same as the predictors of the first two forms. Using Canadian survey data, this study examines the relationships among, and predictors of, all three forms. Evidence that there is not a link between private sphere PEB and household carbon footprints, and that measures of socio-economic status (education and income) have different effects on different types of support for the environment, invites a discussion of whether environmental social scientists are really counting what counts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article presents survey data from households in Alberta, Canada, examining the relationship between income and carbon footprint. Using multivariate statistics to scrutinize the role of income, the data demonstrate substantial disproportionality in the composition and size of household carbon footprints. Results show that household energy consumption (heating, cooking, cooling) comprises half of the average footprint, with automobile transportation contributing 30% and air travel another 15%. In a linear multiple regression model, the size of household carbon footprints is positively associated with income, in addition to other variables. The highest income quintile has household carbon footprints 2.2 times greater than the lowest income quintile. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article examines qualitative research practices in feminist scholarship. The authors report on a content analysis which investigated epistemological and methodological trends in academic feminist literature in the social sciences. It is suggested that while feminist researchers have benefited from a wide range of theories, methodologies, and epistemologies, many scholars employ research strategies that are less inherently feminist than others that are available to them. The authors note that interviews and focus groups are predominant in feminist qualitative research, while other methods such as institutional ethnography and participatory action are less widely used. Narrative and discourse-centered research methodologies are also discussed.

Though professional development of language teachers has received increasing attention over the past decade, there is a lack of research on development of language teachers' teaching competencies in research universities. Informed by the institutional perspective and the framework of Scholarship of Teaching, this study investigates the development of 16 language teachers' teaching competencies in Beijing research universities. The findings show that language teachers' teaching competencies include English proficiency, professional ethics, pedagogical content knowledge, reflective thinking, and research-informed teaching. Factors influencing language teachers' teaching competencies range from the department level to the university level and the academia level. Pathways are proposed from the cultural-cognitive perspective, the normative perspective, and the regulative perspective to develop teaching competencies of language teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the differences between expert and public perceptions of plantation forestry and calls for greater public participation in the development and establishment of plantations. The debate over the social acceptability of varying land-uses is essentially a debate over how land is valued and the effects of land-use change on local peoples. This study reports the findings from 31 interviews with key informants, indicating central themes such as farming identity, trust and economic competition as important to an overall assessment of community perceptions of hybrid poplar plantations. Specifically, we suggest that all of these themes are linked to complex attachments to traditional rural land-use and fear of externally motivated change. Findings from this study contribute to a greater understanding of the public values at stake around tree plantations, where experts have emphasised ecological impacts and economic trade-offs and generally disregarded the social concerns raised above. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]