Rural space has experienced serious change of the social structure by ever expanding urbanization and industrialization since 1960's. Through these processes, rural space has perceived the backward or alienated region. But now the countryside can no l...
Rural space has experienced serious change of the social structure by ever expanding urbanization and industrialization since 1960's. Through these processes, rural space has perceived the backward or alienated region. But now the countryside can no longer be viewed as being the margins of economic, social and political change. Recently rural space is at the center of interest and debate. The countryside is not the fixed site but the flexible object.
In other words, rural space is socially constructed and represented by re-evaluated the traditional culture, rural amenity and the nature, etc. So rural space is increasingly an area consumption as well as production.
Agricultural transition to post-productivism from a productivist philosophy means that farmers and other primary producers are looking for new ways of generating incomes. Alternative uses of rural space are promoting.
In this context, this study tries to grasp the major viewpoints about the change of rural space on the rural social geography. Indeed the purpose of this study is to investigate the process of agricultural transition to the envirionmental friendly agriculture(or the organic farming) from the conventional agriculture at the national, regional and local level. In addition, it selected as case region Yangpyeong-gun(including two villages:Hwajeon2-ri, Shilon1-ri)) and identified how the rural space is socially coustructed, also how the rurality is represented.
The results of this study are summarised as follows:
1) The major viewpoints about the change of rural space on the rural social geography has changed to the political economic from the funtional and descriptive approach and then to the social constructism and the theoy of social representation.
2) According to the social constructism and the theory of social representation, the rurality can be changing constantly. With this, the rural space can be creating the consumptive space and regarded as a commodity.
So, the backward country has the possibility of development in terms of own traditional culture including all crop's production process, rural amenity and the nature.
3) After the Rio Declaration on Environment and development(1992), it is important for harmony between agriculture and environment. And the social attention for safe food has grown. In response to customers' needs and the change of farmer's own attitude, the conventional agriculture has been substitued to the alternative farming.
Agri-environmentalism in Korea originated in the late 1970s as several organic farmers' association('Jeongnonghoe') started to be formed. Since 1994, the environmental friendly agriculture has increased at the national level, its certification program arranged, 1999.
4) A case region Yangpeyong is regarded as the Mecca of the environmental friendly agriculture or the organic farming. In spite of Seoul Metropolitan Suburbs, Yangpyeong is an under-developed area. Because this region is the environment restricted area, the agriculture has located the center of regional economic activity. In this specific situation, Yangpyeong can be accpted more earlier than other region. In addition, the preserved environment formed the regional identity and become the important asset for the growth in this region. The politic of environment and the value of green discourse are realizing in Yangpyeong.
5) At local level, it selected as two case villages for the concrete investigation how the rural space is socially coustructed, also how the rurality is represented.
Hwajeon2-ri is the traditional rice farming village. Because rice fields are cohered at the center of village as a production complex and irrigated through the underground water into the field complex, it has been choiced as the leading village for promoting the agri-environmentalism in Yangpyeong. Also It is a traditional clan village constituted of clan family Hong(洪). The traditional landscapes associated with Hong's family has played as place identity, recently re-evaluated the value and then represented to the asset for alternative tourism with farming processes.
Shilon1-ri is the typical mountain village. It is creating the village's value as commodity through a clear nature. It is possible to identify that 'social nature' is realized process in this village.