Seminar
Floor Groefsema: Images of the family farm during the formative years of post-war agricultural policy (1945-1970)
RHI SEMINAR
This paper focuses on the question how the phenomenon of the family farm has been portrayed in policy texts. It concentrates on a formative period of post-war agricultural policy in two northwest European countries: the Netherlands and Sweden. The analysis taps into debates on definitional practices in the field of family farming assuming that these practices are highly context-sensitive.
In particular, since a wide range of factors – such as geographical, historical and political factors - gave rise to increased heterogeneity in the family farm sector. Focussing on definitional practices in policy texts, the paper illustrates the absence of a comprehensive understanding of this phenomenon emphasising that images of the family farm should be rather interpreted in their historical contexts. In order to structure the examination, the paper aligns with the notion that definitional practices fall out in distinct categories: analytical-descriptive and political - generally more ideologically loaded - definitions.