Advancing rural as ‘something more than a human estate’: Exploring UK sheep-shaping
Name:
Publisher version
View Source
Access full-text PDFOpen Access
View Source
Check access options
Check access options
Name:
Sheep who Shape_submitted ...
Size:
534.2Kb
Format:
PDF
Request:
Revised manuscript accepted for ...
Affiliation
Swansea University; University of ChesterPublication Date
2021-10-01
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Periodically, the topic of defining rural is addressed within rural social science scholarship but done so in overwhelmingly human terms. This paper engages with this observation, arguing the simple but axiomatic point that the rural is not solely a human taxonomic creation but expresses a space that integrally and intimately involves the more-than-human. Consequently, the latter should be strongly, firmly and richly represented up-front within the defining rural debate. Adopting an established if, to date, still anthropocentricised three-fold model of rural space, the paper argues that each dimension – localities, representations, lives – feature the more-than-human in both passive and active ways. Overall, bringing more-than-human perspectives much further to the fore consolidates the idea of rural as inherently co-produced, a ‘baroque assemblage’ containing many more-than-human living things. Accounts of animals within such a rural must recognise their emplacing from a diversity of foci, interests and consequences. The paper begins to introduce details of this diverse co-production with respect to one ubiquitous rural animal, the sheep. It illustrates the ‘ensheeping’ of rural localities, representations and lives, with the practical significance of this brought together and drawn out through two rival accounts of sheep within the Lake District National Park. Finally, the seemingly modest call for rural studies to embrace animals more fully is argued to be enhanced today by ongoing and potentially imminent experiences impacting strongly on rural places.Citation
Halfacree, K., & Williams, F. (2021). Advancing rural as ‘something more than a human estate’: Exploring UK sheep-shaping. Journal of Rural Studies, 87, 375-385. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.09.020Publisher
ElsevierJournal
Journal of Rural StudiesType
ArticleSeries/Report no.
Volume 87ISSN
0743-0167ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.09.020
Scopus Count
Collections
The following license files are associated with this item:
- Creative Commons
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International