CFP: “The Lie of the Land”: Rural Lies, Myths and Realities

Please see below a call for papers for a session in the RGS-IBG Annual
Conference 2008 (27-29 August).

Title: “The Lie of the Land”: Rural Lies, Myths and Realities

Sponsored by the Rural Geography Research Group

Convenors:
Gareth Enticott (Cardiff University)
Keith Halfacree (Swansea University)

In May 2006, Channel 4 screened “The Lie of the Land”, a documentary by
Molly Dineen. Originally intended to be about hunting, the documentary ended
up focusing on traditional productive agriculture in marginal South-west
England. In doing so it provoked equal amounts of outrage, praise, anger and
shock. It showed in graphic detail some of the less attractive realities of
rural living: from the routine slaughter of healthy yet unprofitable
new-born calves on dairy farms, to the acute poverty of many farmers’
day-to-day lives, to the harsh impacts of reforms to agricultural subsidies.
In the agricultural press, farmers were equally pleased and angered: pleased
because the film served to highlight the plight of productive agriculture
but also angered because some felt that it undermined those seeking to
develop quality products.

The title of the documentary – “The Lie of the Land” – resonates powerfully
in more general ways too. It signifies a set of long held ‘lies’ about the
English countryside – from the ‘lie’ of a bucolic rural idyll and the
(unseen) ‘lies’ of modern agriculture. These lies, though, are not
necessarily told by farmers but arguably more commonly by governments and
the urban population.

For this session, therefore, we are calling for papers that deal with the
implications for rural geography raised by the “Lie of the Land”. In
particular, papers are invited that deal with the following themes:

1) Rural Lies and Myths. The title of Molly Dineen’s documentary brings to
the surface wide-ranging questions about rural lies, myths and realities.
Who lies about the rural and who is aware of those untruths? What rural
myths exist? How do they circulate around rural populations? What impact do
they have? How are lies manifested and by whom or what: humans, nonhumans,
topographies/geomorphologies?

2) The practice of agriculture in (marginal) rural areas. How have recent
reforms to agricultural policy affected rural livelihoods? For example, how
has the management of the Rural Payments Agency impacted upon farmers? How
have changes to the management of agri-environment schemes, animal health
policies and the Common Agricultural Policy generally altered the practice
of farming today?

3) Methodological Lies. Dineen’s documentary is situated as a journey of
discovery and accidental realisation of a set of rural problems. What other
methodological journeys have researchers experienced that has awakened them
to rural lies and truths? To what extent are the truths researchers say
about the rural based on purposive or accidental journeys? The documentary
also raises the question of how geographers should deal with lying. Which
methods are best suited for exploring and capturing lies? Does it matter if
research participants lie? What untruths do researchers themselves tell?

Please submit abstracts of not more than 250 words by January 31st 2008 to
either:
Dr Keith Halfacree
Swansea University
k.h.halfacree@swansea.ac.uk
or:
Dr Gareth Enticott
Cardiff University
enticottg@cardiff.ac.uk