The Potentials of Nested Markets for Sustainable Rural Development: The Case of Hongdong, South Korea
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Date
2015-07-28
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Abstract
This research examines the evolution of nested markets in Hongdong Town, South Korea and their characteristics through a qualitative case study in order to open the opportunities to shape the nested markets so that they work well in regard to sustainable rural development. Specifically, this study is informed by an agro-ecological approach, and cross-disciplinary literatures in rural development, agrifood movement, and rural tourism. Data are collected via 58 in-depth semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and examination documentation. Thematic analysis yielded three significant themes that have been developed into three separate manuscripts. The first manuscript describes and analyzes the dynamics of nested markets identified in Hongdong by tracking their historical roots and changes. Four different types of nested markets are identified and their particular mechanisms are discussed. The second manuscript examines the empowerment and disempowerment factors in the different types of nested markets, focusing primarily upon the participant farmers’ own experiences and interpretations. Democratic management, ideological struggle, participatory educations, and self-consciousness are underscored for a multi-dimensional approach to empowerment of small-scale farmers. The final manuscript examines the evolution of rural tourism in Hongdong, and its links to agricultural changes, and traditional small farm survival, as part of sustainable rural development. The study shows that rural tourism is neither a simple, business-oriented project nor a step-by-step process of tourism development. It emerges, together with other nested markets in responds to the negative effects of the neoliberalist agrifood market.
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Rural development, nested markets, rural tourism, sustainability, empowerment, alternative food movement, Korea, Hongdong