The Outgoing Council Meeting of the International Rural Sociological Association was called to order by President Lawrence at approximately 5:15 p.m.
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Professor Koichi Ikegami has been elected President of IRSA for 2016-2020. Professor Ikegami is based in the Faculty of Agriculture at Kindai University, Nara, Japan. His scholarly work embraces the areas of food, agriculture, fair trade and community sustainability. He has held many important and influential roles over the past few decades including President of the Asian Rural Sociology Association and President of the Japanese Association for Rural Studies. He has also been a regional representative on the Council of IRSA. He has outlined his vision for IRSA which can read here.
A very successful IRSA Congress was held at Ryerson University in Toronto between 10 and 14 August. Over 800 delegate presented at the Congress. Highlights can be found at: http://www.ryerson.ca/arts/irsacongress2016/ . The Congress was opened by Outgoing President, Professor Geoffrey Lawrence who stressed the continuing importance of researching rural issues in an era of urbanisation and globalisation. Click here to read his address.
The XXVII European Society for Rural Sociology Congress will take place from 24 to 27 July 2017 in Kraków, Poland. The theme of the conference is “Uneven processes of rural change: on diversity, knowledge and justice”.
The Scientific Committee call for working group proposals to be submitted with deadline September 15th 2016.
More details are available on the conference web site.
The European Society for Rural Sociology and The Jagiellonian University in Krakow invites to the XXVII European Society For Rural Sociology Congress. The congress will be held 24-27 July in 2017 in Krakow, Poland. See attached flyer for more information
The Maringá State University (in Paraná, Brazil) invites to the International Symposium on work in agriculture 2016, 8.-11. November. The aims of the symposium are to capitalize on knowledge of changes in farming work, to take into account the diversity and dynamics of the forms of work organization in different farming models (family-based, agribusiness, high-tech…), and to reflect on the future of the work of men and women, family workers and paid employees. For further information, please see attached flyer (PDF) or visit the symposium website.
In the last President’s Corner of 2015 I outlined evidence of the (largely negative) impacts of neoliberalism on farming and rural communities. One issue not covered was that of resistance to neoliberalism. In this President’s Corner I have attached an interesting overview of this issue by leading rural sociologists Professors Alessandro Bonanno (Sam Houston State University) and Steven Wolf (Cornell University). They provide examples of opposition to a corporate-based agri-food system, highlighting the groups which are proposing alternative futures. Their contribution is a background ‘white paper’ for the mini-conference on ‘The New Frontiers of Resistance in Global Agri-food’, to be held at the IRSA World Congress of Rural Sociology in Toronto this August.
The Asian Rural Sociology Association has published a newsletter, click here to view the newsletter (PDF, 176kb).
The Journal of Appalachian Studies announces a special two-year forum on sustainable economic development in Appalachia, starting with the journal’s spring 2016 (Vol. 22, No. 1) issue and ending with the fall 2017 (Vol. 23, No. 2) issue. For more information please view call for papers or see the website of the Journal.
The UN General Assembly has declared this year the International Year of Soils. The aim is to increase awareness about the importance of soils to the planet’s future. How can rural sociologists – and other social scientists – become involved? Continue reading