Description
In recent years the changes in rural life wrought by the mechanization of agriculture and the consequent 'drift from the land' have been both subtle and far-reaching. Yet the views of agricultural workers - the group which has been most directly affected by such changes are seldom heard. This book is the first systematic study of the social situation of the agricultural worker since these changes became widespread.
The book focuses on the attitudes and behaviour of the farm workers themselves and their responses to the often bewildering series of changes that have overtaken them. On the basis of material from interviews and participant observation in Suffolk, the author examines in detail the farm workers' experience of their jobs, their relations with employers, workmates and neighbours and the impact of recent changes in the rural community. As the title of the book suggests, a good deal of attention is also devoted to how farm workers view their 'betters' and how far recent changes in the rural way of life have destroyed the forelock-tugging stereotype.
This book will be of interest to anyone who is concerned for what is currently happening in rural England. It is written particularly for those with a professional interest in sociology, agricultural economics and countryside planning, but all those who have an awareness of the rural way of life will find much to interest them.
Howard Newby is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Essex, and director of an SSRC-financed study of large-scale farmers in East Anglia. ISBN:0140803181
