ARTICLE IN PRESS
Journal of Rural Studies 23 (2007) 62–74
www.elsevier.com/locate/jrurstud
Landscape stories: Using ideal type narratives as a heuristic
device in rural studies
Reto Soliva
Swiss Federal Research Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Section Landscape and Society, Zürcherstr. 111,
8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland
Abstract
In many European mountain areas, including the Swiss Alps, agriculture has been on the decline in the last decades. This has led to
changes in land use, landscape and biodiversity; changes which are perceived, explained and valued by people in different ways. In this
paper, the views of local stakeholders in the Surses valley, Switzerland regarding these changes are synthesised in four ideal type
narratives that take into account theoretical concepts. The aims of the paper are: firstly, to show how ideal type narratives can be
constructed and used as a heuristic device in rural studies; and secondly, to understand the diverse views, values and assumptions of
stakeholders regarding changes in the Alpine landscape, land use and biodiversity. The four ideal type narratives are: (1) a wilderness
narrative which assumes a continued decline of the regional economy leading to land abandonment and wilderness; (2) a modernisation
narrative whose proponents believe in continued technological progress and support from outside; (3) a subsistence narrative that
believes in the future of the autonomous, subsistence-oriented farmer as the ideal manager of the cultural landscape; and (4) an
endogenous development narrative, which stresses the endogenous development potential of mountain regions and the need for
adaptations and innovations on the part of the local population. It is argued that ideal type narratives are not only a useful heuristic
device in research, but that they have the potential to minimise misunderstandings in stakeholder discussions and thereby contribute to
more fruitful debates in participatory landscape and biodiversity planning processes.
r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Narratives; Landscape; Biodiversity; Agricultural decline; BioScene; Switzerland
1. Introduction
In the Swiss Alps, as in many European mountain areas,
agriculture has been on the decline in the last decades, with
a decrease both in the number of farms and the size of
utilised agricultural area. The associated changes in land
use have also led to changes in landscape and biodiversity
and have raised questions about possible future development trajectories of mountain regions. These changes are
addressed in public debate and policies. It is increasingly
acknowledged that local stakeholders must be included in
planning processes and policy development. However,
participation of the general public in regional development
issues in rural areas of the Swiss Alps has been rather weak
(Rodewald and Knoepfel, 2002). Furthermore, local and
Tel.: +41 44 739 23 53; fax: +41 44 739 25 88.
E-mail address: [email protected].
0743-0167/$ - see front matter r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2006.04.004
regional debates are not always well understood by actors
at the national level. On the other hand, there are issues
relating to the future development of peripheral regions
that are primarily discussed in urban areas and by national
policy makers, rather than by the general public in the
concerned regions themselves. Therefore, there is a need to
better bring together local and national debates. In order to
achieve this, misunderstandings between stakeholders on
different levels must be minimised, which in turn requires a
better understanding of the diverse views of stakeholders
and their underpinning assumptions and values. The
present paper addresses this need by using ideal type
narratives as a novel approach to the analysis of past,
present and future changes in land use, landscape and
biodiversity in a Swiss mountain area.
The paper is based on the assumption that local
stakeholders have diverse views of the role and functions
of mountain agriculture, and thus perceive and assess the
ARTICLE IN PRESS
R. Soliva / Journal of Rural Studies 23 (2007) 62–74
consequences of agricultural decline in a variety of ways.
People tell different ‘stories’ about changes in land use,
landscape and biodiversity and about how these changes
interdepend. Their perception and assessment of past
changes influence the way they think about present changes
and future developments. However, some problems arise
when people’s views on such broad topics are to be
analysed. Changes in land use, landscape and biodiversity
involve a broad range of issues and aspects, on which an
individual may have different and partly conflicting views.
In order to better understand these views, it is necessary to
look at their underlying values and assumptions. It is often
found that an individual’s assumptions underpinning his or
her arguments are not consistent and coherent, and that his
or her views are orientated to different values, depending
on the issue and place. For instance, an individual in a
mountain area may ascribe value to natural processes such
as liking a ‘mountain wilderness’ at high elevations, while
expressing a preference for a tidy forest to an unmanaged
one at lower elevations. People ascribe values to concrete
objects in a creative way during interactions (Touraine,
1985). Researching people’s values towards ‘objects’ such
as landscape (as opposed to their personal value-orientations in their lives) is thus very complex. There is still a lack
of empirical studies into the role of people’s values in
landscape interactions (Buchecker et al., in print). The task
is further complicated by the variety of definitions that
have been applied to the term value (Manfredo et al.,
2004). In this paper, values are understood as societal
defaults, which offer the actors an orientation for their
actions. Values are permanently being transformed
through the actors’ interactions (see e.g. Giddens, 1984).
Value typologies, such as Schwartz’ value typology
(Schwartz, 1992), have been used in social psychological
research of human values, and have been applied to a study
of landscape values by Buchecker et al. (in print).
In view of the enormous complexity of social reality,
interpretative sociology aims at reaching insights into
reality through the construction of heuristic devices
(Gerhardt, 1995). Ideal types have been a useful heuristic
device in sociology since they were introduced by Max
Weber in the early 20th century (see Gerhardt, 2001). An
ideal type is formed from characteristics and elements of
the given phenomena but it is not meant to correspond to
all of the characteristics of any one specific case. A
common application of ideal types in rural sociology has
been the creation of ideal types of farmers or farming styles
(e.g. van der Ploeg, 1994; Madsen and Adriansen, 2004; or
in the Swiss context Stucki and Weiss, 1995; Baur, 1998.
For an assessment of farm typologies, see Whatmore,
1994).
In this study, local stakeholders’ views of changes in land
use, landscape and biodiversity are categorised into ideal
types by referring to coherent theoretical concepts. However, a further step increases the usefulness of these ideal
types as a heuristic device. Since the study is concerned
with changes, the temporal dimension should be explicitly
63
incorporated into the ideal types. This can be done through
the construction of a narrative for each ideal type, as a
linguistic form similar to the ‘stories’ that people tell about
changes in their region. In this article ideal type narratives
are understood as stories with a beginning, a middle and an
end, which are told from different ideal type perspectives
and which extend from the past, through the present and
into the future. The process of constructing the narratives
is related to Polkinghorne’s, (1995) conception of narrative
analysis:
‘‘Narrative analysis is the procedure through which the
researcher organizes the data elements into a coherent
developmental account. The process of narrative analysis is actually a synthesizing of the data rather than a
separation of it into its constituent parts’’ (p. 15); and:
‘‘The finding is the outcome of a series of constructions.
[y] The write-up itself is not a neutral representation of
the research finding; it is a composition that molds the
story to fit the current grammatical conventions and
conceptual framework of the language in which the
story is expressed’’ (p. 19).
While narrative enquiry has been increasingly applied in
areas as diverse as education (Clandinin and Connelly,
2000), psychiatry (Coles, 1989), policy analysis (Roe, 1994),
organisation theory (Czarniawska, 1997), or landscape
design (Potteiger and Purinton, 1998), narratives are still
largely unknown as heuristic device in landscape and
biodiversity research.
The aims of this paper are two-fold: firstly, to show how
ideal type narratives can be constructed and used as a
heuristic device in rural studies; and secondly, to understand the diverse views, values and assumptions of
stakeholders regarding changes in Alpine landscape, land
use and biodiversity by presenting and discussing the four
narratives. However, a detailed analysis of stakeholders’
views is beyond the scope of this paper, and will be
presented elsewhere (Soliva and Hunziker, submitted for
publication).
The paper will begin with a brief overview over the study
area and a description of the research methods. The
narratives will be presented and, in light of the associated
theoretical concepts, their underpinning assumptions,
values, knowledge bases, landscape and nature concepts
and main constituencies, will be analysed. The application
of ideal type narratives as a heuristic device in research will
then be illustrated using the example of land abandonment.
Finally, conclusions will be drawn as to the suitability of
ideal type narratives as a heuristic device in rural studies
and their potential as a communication tool in participatory landscape planning.
2. Study area
This paper is based on research undertaken as part
of the project ‘‘BioScene: scenarios for reconciling biodiversity conservation with declining agricultural use in the
ARTICLE IN PRESS
64
R. Soliva / Journal of Rural Studies 23 (2007) 62–74
mountains of Europe’’. Seven European countries are
involved, and the Surses Valley in the Canton of Grisons
in south-eastern Switzerland was chosen as the Swiss
study area.
The Surses covers an area of 324 km2 ranging from 1000
to 3300 m above sea level. It encompasses nine municipalities with a total of approx. 2500 inhabitants. The
population has slightly increased over the last 20 yr with
the largest growth in the bigger villages in the lower part of
the valley, while some of the smaller villages in the upper
valley experienced a population decline down to a critical
level for the maintenance of public services. The region is
heavily dependant on tourism (above all ski tourism) with
about half of the population earning their income directly
from tourism (Zegg et al., 1993). Many farmers supplement
their income from ski tourism.
Agriculture is still relatively important with more than
one fifth of the workers employed in the primary sector
(Amt für Wirtschaft und Tourismus Graubünden, 2003). It
is centred on cattle husbandry for dairy and meat
production, and transhumance (mountain summer farms)
is an essential component of the system. Increasing direct
payments for environmentally friendly farming in recent
years have led to a significant shift towards organic
farming with today about 55% of farms in the Surses
producing organically. Land holdings amount to 19 ha on
average, which corresponds to the Swiss average (BFS,
2000; FAT (Eidgenössische Forschungsanstalt für Agrarwirtschaft und Landtechnik), 2002).
As in other mountain areas in Switzerland and Europe,
agriculture in the Surses has been declining over the last
decades—less in terms of the volume of agricultural
production, but rather in terms of farm numbers and
farmed area. Between 1980 and 2000 the number of farms
decreased by 35%, and the total size of agriculturally used
area decreased by 10% (BFS, 1980, 2000). At the same
time, forested areas increased by nearly 8% between 1985
and 1997 (BFS (Bundesamt für Statistik), 1980, 2000; BFS
(Bundesamt für Statistik), 1992, 2001), indicating a trend
of agricultural abandonment of marginal land and
subsequent spontaneous reafforestation in these areas.
3. Methods
The paper is based on literature review, semi-structured
interviews using interview guidelines and a group discussion with local stakeholders in the Surses. The selection of
stakeholders was carried out according to the method of
theoretical sampling (e.g. Glaser and Strauss, 1967; Glaser,
1978; Strauss, 1991; Miles and Huberman, 1994; Wiedemann, 1995). This is an iterative process in which cycles of
data collection and data analysis are repeated (i.e. data
analysis is followed by a new phase of data collection) until
the data collection yields no further results that contribute
to answering the research questions. The aim of stakeholder selection was to cover a maximum range of different
views, rather than to access a representative sample in a
quantitative sense. Therefore, the principle of ‘maximal
contrasting’ (Hunziker, 2000) was followed with those
cases chosen that represented the most divergent views.
Selecting these ‘extreme positions’ made it possible to
consider the whole range of thematically relevant positions
in the population. However, when a broad topic such as
landscape change is investigated most people have hybrid
views consisting of elements of different positions, and it is
difficult to find persons with a ‘pure’, unambiguous view
that comprises all relevant aspects of the topic in a coherent
way. However, in the literature such ‘pure’ views can be
found and can often be quite clearly assigned to a specific
set of values and assumptions. Hence, the empirically
found stakeholder positions were combined with theoretical concepts and synthesised into ideal types. This
procedure is largely in accordance with Max Weber’s
understanding of the construction of ideal types: ideal
types are formulated by exaggerating one side of reality, or
selecting multiple aspects of reality and synthesising them
into a unified analytical construct (Weber, 1904/1973,
p. 191).
Since the study is concerned with changes in land use,
landscape and biodiversity, the construction of a narrative
for each ideal type accounted for the temporal dimension.
For this, characteristic elements of the ideal types were
synthesised into a coherent developmental account. The
narratives are thus expressions of the ideal types taking
into account the temporal dimension. They are pointed
condensations of stakeholders’ combined ‘stories’ of
change in their region, put into a ‘pure’ and unambiguous
form by referring to coherent theoretical concepts. Each of
these narratives stands for an ideal type underpinned by a
set of typical values, assumptions and concepts. By
condensing the ideal types into the narratives, the
researcher gets a better grasp of the essence of the
perspectives in their temporal context. For subsequent
investigations of specific issues in a research project (in this
case, e.g. land abandonment and spontaneous reafforestation, or scenarios of landscape change), these narratives
provide a useful heuristic device for understanding
stakeholders’ views and their underpinning values and
assumptions.
It has to be kept in mind that the narratives are built on
different knowledge bases and that they focus on different
aspects. While, for instance, the proponents of one
narrative mostly base their arguments on conservation
biology, the advocates of another narrative refer primarily
to economics and the social sciences. Nevertheless, the
narratives remain directly comparable at the level of values
and nature concepts (see Table 2 below).
The study was carried out as follows: A review of the
literature and an initial series of exploratory expert
interviews provided an overview of the general situation,
past developments and current trends in the study area. In
the course of the exploratory interviews, some respondents
were asked to name one or two persons in the Surses who,
in their opinion, were particularly interested in agriculture,
ARTICLE IN PRESS
R. Soliva / Journal of Rural Studies 23 (2007) 62–74
landscape, biodiversity and regional development issues.
These nominated people were interviewed and asked to
name a person with a contrasting view. The interviews were
transcribed and analysed, and the positions were related to
the positions derived from the previous interviews and the
hypothetical positions derived from the literature and the
exploratory interviews. The nominated persons with
contrasting views were then interviewed and the interviews
were again analysed and placed in the theoretical and
empirical context. The research was thus carried out in
repeating cycles of data collection, data analysis and
literature research, similar to the research process in
grounded theory (Glaser and Strauss, 1967). After some
interviews, tentative characterisations of the ideal types
were formed, which in the course of the research process
became increasingly focused, as hypothetical assumptions
about specific aspects of the ideal type perspectives were
related to stakeholders’ statements. In the literature review,
special attention was paid to the values, assumptions and
concepts underpinning the ideal types. Narratives were
constructed for the ideal types and constantly modified and
refined. The procedure was repeated until interviews and
literature research ceased yielding any additional relevant
insight or contribution to the development of the ideal
types and narratives. In total, 23 interviews were conducted, each lasting an average of 1.5–2 h. In addition to
ensuring that a maximum range of different views was
covered, attention was paid to the locality and to social
attributes of stakeholders such as gender, age and
profession. Finally, 12 out of the 23 interviewed stakeholders, representing all narratives and most of the specific
65
views encountered, were asked to participate in a 3 h group
discussion about the same topics. The discussion was
transcribed and analysed, and the additional insight used
to refine the narratives. Table 1 gives an overview of the
interviewed persons and the participants of the group
discussion.
4. Narratives of changes in land use, landscape and
biodiversity
In this section, the following four ideal type narratives
are presented:
(1) a wilderness narrative which assumes a continued
decline of the regional economy, opening up new
chances for wilderness reserves;
(2) a modernisation narrative that refers to continued
technological progress and support from outside;
(3) a subsistence narrative that sees both the past and the
future of the region in a subsistence type of economy;
(4) an endogenous development narrative that focuses on the
endogenous potentials of the region, including landscape.
As the narratives are related to the broader literature, the
Swiss Alps are taken as a spatial reference frame for the
analysis. On a more regional level, the main proponents of
the narratives in the study area are then identified. The four
ideal type narratives are presented and discussed in more
detail as follows.
Table 1
Characteristics of the interviewees
No.
Sex
Age
Occupation, hobbies/remarks
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
m
f
m
m
m
m
m
f
m
m
m
m
m
f
f
m
m
f
f
m
m
f
m
70
54
38
60
78
65
55
43
55
48
39
61
44
49
61
47
28
65
43
61
55
60
67
Retired primary school teacher
Tailoress, tourism entrepreneur, involved in regional park project
Sheep farmer (organic), hobby hunter, involved in the local protest group ‘‘Pur Suveran’’
Tourism entrepreneur
Retired driver and restorer, hobby hunter
Retired veterinary, hobby sheep farmer, manager of a marketing organisation of regional products
Farmer (organic, suckler cows)
Employee in tourism sector, housewife, member of mountaineering club
Cantonal employee, hobby hunter
High school teacher in the Zurich area, owner of a holiday home in the Surses
Electrician, local politician
Surveyor, active member of a conservation organisation, owns a holiday home in the area
Forester
Chemist, amateur botanist
Retired farmer
Forester, cantonal politician
Farmer (organic)
Retired entrepreneur and social worker, moved from lowlands after retirement
Farmer (organic, cattle and sheep)
Retired farmer (conventional, dairy cattle)
Gamekeeper
Shop keeper, moved from Germany
Retired farmer (conventional, dairy cattle)
In italics: selected members of the stakeholder discussion group.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
R. Soliva / Journal of Rural Studies 23 (2007) 62–74
66
4.1. Wilderness
In an interview, one stakeholder made the following
statement:
‘‘The process of this [the Surses] becoming a wilderness
would certainly be exciting. How this evolves, how this
worksy that’s something that takes several generations
[y]. If there were a few wilderness areas scattered across
Switzerland, that would be something instructive for
society. Because wilderness would offer people the
possibility to re-establish a better relation to nature’’
(stakeholder 12).
In other parts of the interview, the stakeholder expressed
the need to conserve the cultural landscape. In his opinion,
the ideal landscape in the Swiss Alps encompasses both
used land and wilderness patches. However, he suspected
that wilderness areas in the mountains might require quite
a large size in order for natural processes to unfold
properly, which might be in conflict with the conservation
of the cultural landscape. Thus, this stakeholder’s views of
future landscapes in the Surses are influenced by ecological
assumptions, such as about the required size of wilderness
areas, and informed by different, and partly conflicting
values, such as the value of natural processes on the one
hand, and the values associated with a managed cultural
landscape on the other.
The interviewee expressed a rather favourable overall
attitude toward wilderness, but there are some ambivalent
points. Much more pronounced views can be found in the
international literature on nature conservation. A radical
expression of the pro-wilderness position is the processoriented conservation concept, which has been subject of a
relatively recent conservation debate in many western
countries. It focuses on the protection of biological
processes instead of the preservation of an ‘ideal’ state of
nature, as prevalent in traditional nature conservation.
Proponents of this concept criticise traditional conservation for its static view of nature, which in their opinion
impedes the natural dynamic of ecosystems, and hence acts
against nature. They argue that traditional conservation
strategies, with their focus on the preservation of cultural
landscapes, have the effect of turning the landscape into a
museum (cf. Ziegler, 2002). Ecosystems are viewed as
representing complex spatial and temporal mosaics governed by a variety of biotic (e.g., competition) and abiotic
(e.g., climate, disturbance) processes and feedbacks (e.g.
Scherzinger, 1997; Reichholf, 1996; Remmert, 1985, 1991).
Disturbance has been attributed a governing role in
shaping ecosystems as it generates complex spatio-temporal system mosaics including occasional local elimination of
ecosystem components. It is generally hypothesised that, if
long time periods and large areas are considered, species
and habitat diversity in a ‘wilderness’ is greater than in an
ecosystem disturbed by human impact, in which specific
succession stages are conserved (cf. Ziegler, 2002). This
implies that large wilderness areas are required in order for
processes to shape ecosystems (Remmert, 1988).
4.1.1. Wilderness narrative
Based on the wilderness ideal type, the following ideal
type narrative of landscape and land use change in an
Alpine valley like the Surses has been constructed:
In the beginning there was pure nature; the Alps were a
pristine area consisting of intact mountain ecosystems,
moulded by natural processes and undisturbed by
human beings. However, human influence in all its
forms—including, among many others, settlements,
agriculture, forestry, mountain tourism, traffic, and
reservoirs—has drastically altered mountain ecosystems
and reduced wilderness areas in the Swiss Alps to a few
small, scattered patches. Traditional nature conservation has mistakenly focused on the preservation of
cultural landscapes, turning the landscape into a
museum, instead of allowing nature to take its own
course. In recent years, however, regional economies in
mountain areas have been declining, and as a consequence, large parts of the Alps are being depopulated. In
the future, the urban population majority will be less
willing to sustain marginal regions with public funding,
which will open up new chances for wilderness areas in
the Alps. This will allow society to establish a new
relation to nature and to learn from nature.
4.1.2. Values and nature concept
The nature concept most closely associated with the
wilderness narrative can be labelled ‘Arcadian’ as derived
from Donald Worster and used in van Koppen’s (2000)
categorisation of nature concepts in environmental sociology. According to Worster, the ‘Arcadian view’ of the
relationship between humans and nature is characterised
by the recognition of an intrinsic value of nature (Worster,
1985). Also, natural processes are considered valuable and
worthy of protection. The most radical views of an
Arcadian perspective are taken by advocates of deep
ecology (e.g. Naess, 1973; Drengson, 1980; Devall, 1997)
and bio-egalitarism (e.g. Taylor, 1997).
In addition to the intrinsic value of nature and the value
of natural processes, proponents of the wilderness narrative ascribe aesthetic and spiritual value to wilderness
(Wilson, 1993) and view it as a space for reflection and
physical and spiritual compensation (cf. Stremlow and
Sidler, 2002).
4.1.3. Constituency
It has been frequently pointed out that the social bases of
the Arcadian perspective have historically lain in the urban
upper and middle classes (van Koppen, 2000). This is in
line with Stremlow and Sidler’s (2002) finding that most
articles about wilderness published in German language
Swiss newspapers in recent years have been published in
major urban newspapers.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
R. Soliva / Journal of Rural Studies 23 (2007) 62–74
Notions typical for the wilderness narrative, such as a
process-oriented conservation strategy, are expressed by
conservation organisations at the national and cantonal
level (e.g. Geiger, 2001), yet in a moderate version:
wilderness is seen as desirable—not least because it is
perceived as offering prime habitat for flagship species such
as wolf and lynx—but not at the cost of ecologically
valuable cultural land (cf. Rodewald, 2001).
Local stakeholders in the Surses, on the other hand, were
largely opposed to the re-wilding of their valley on a large
scale. Most respondents did not mention re-wilding in the
interview, and several respondents were rather taken aback
when confronted with the scenario of their valley becoming
a wilderness. Two of the three respondents who expressed a
positive attitude towards wilderness were persons from the
lowlands who own a holiday home or had recently moved
to the area.
4.2. Modernisation
Like the wilderness narrative, the modernisation narrative was developed based on stakeholders views and put
into a wider theoretical context, in this case the concept of
exogenous, state-sponsored modernisation. The following
quote from an entrepreneur in the Surses illustrates some
typical aspects of the modernisation ideal type:
‘‘We have very dutiful farmers. And they are farsighted,
too. If I think about it, Savognin had one of the first
land consolidations in Switzerland, [y] and one of the
first milk pipelines. And now there are two milk
pipelines, go look around where else they have this.
An industrial area needs to make sure they have enough
land for their industry, and that’s exactly what the
farmers in Riom-Parsonz and Savognin did with their
alpine pastures. The alpine pasture corporation with its
land is their [the farmers’] industry, this is farsighted,
and I find this great’’ (stakeholder 4).
This stakeholder emphasises the productive role of
agriculture in the Surses and favours an industrialised
agriculture, which in his opinion is only possible with
government support. In the concept of exogenous, statesponsored modernisation of rural areas it is believed that
technological progress and structural development are
necessary to transform traditional, small-scale agriculture,
through a process of selective growth and specialisation,
into efficient and competitive food production. Small and
inefficient farms have to disappear, while other, more
promising farms, managed by dynamic entrepreneurs, have
to be enlarged (cf. van der Ploeg, 1995). Moreover,
stagnant rural regions are seen as needing to be connected
to dynamic centres and expanding sectors, as the main
forces of rural development are conceived to emanate from
outside rural areas (Lowe et al., 1995).
Modernist farmers in Switzerland take Swiss post-war
agricultural policy, with its high degree of protection, as a
reference model for future developments. Art. 104 Section 1
67
of the Swiss Constitution obliges the Federal government
to provide for an agriculture, which contributes significantly to a secure food supply for the population and a
decentralised settlement of the country. Therefore, the
ongoing support of farmers through government subsidies
is viewed as legally guaranteed. The Swiss government is
expected to resist pressures from the EU and WTO to
liberalise agricultural markets. Similarly, in tourism,
proponents of the modernisation narrative expect the state
to continue giving out subsidies, such as for mountain
railways or for hotel investments.
4.2.1. Modernisation narrative
The modernisation narrative of land use and landscape
change in the Alps can be told as follows.
For centuries people in the Alps have braved their harsh
environment and turned the original wilderness into a
productive landscape. Technological progress, structural
change in agriculture, land consolidation and improvement measures, as well as a protective agricultural policy
in the last decades, enabled the more industrious and
entrepreneurial farmers to greatly increase production.
The advent of mechanised ski tourism in the 1960s
brought about new labour and income opportunities for
the majority of the population, and complements
agriculture very suitably. Animal husbandry and winter
tourism remain the most appropriate forms of land use
in the Swiss mountains, with the export of hydropower
being an additional important source of income. As
technological progress is likely to advance further and
the government is expected to continue its supportive
and protective policy, the future will require no
fundamental changes on the part of the local population.
4.2.2. Values and nature concept
In economic terms, the modernisation ideal type is
mostly based on neo-classical economic thinking (Hahne
and von Stackelberg, 1994) and its ideal conception of
homo economicus, with profit being the key value.
Individual economic agents are seen as acting in a rational
and utility-optimising way. Regarding its nature concept,
modernisation takes a clearly anthropocentric, utilitarian
view that nature is here to be used and exploited by
humankind (cf. van Koppen, 2000). The physical use-value
of ‘nature’ and ‘landscape’ is given priority over the
aesthetic, symbolic or spiritual value (cf. Halfacree, 1993).
Corresponding to the notion of ‘ecological modernisation’
(Mol, 1997; Hajer, 1996; Buttel, 2000), environmental
problems are believed to be solved through technological
progress, without deviating from the path of modernisation. Biodiversity—as diversity in general—plays only a
marginal role. Referring to the principle of economies of
scale, large production units are preferred to a smallstructured, diverse cultural landscape and agriculture. Only
species with a direct use to humankind are of a certain
ARTICLE IN PRESS
R. Soliva / Journal of Rural Studies 23 (2007) 62–74
68
interest, and high-yielding varieties of crops and farm
animals are particularly important (cf. Schmid, 2003).
consumers, including barter trade (Müller, 1999; JoosBleuler, 2001).
4.2.3. Constituency
Modernisation, as a trajectory for rural development in
Switzerland, was the dominant paradigm in the post-war
era up until the 1980s. In the Surses, the modernisation
narrative is particularly told by farmers of the older
generation, by those with larger land holdings, and those in
the lower part of the valley, where the land is less steep and
easier to cultivate with large machinery. They had been
taught by agricultural schools and extension services to
increase production for the market. Often they have
successfully done so by adopting new technology and
leasing land. Many of them gain an additional income from
winter tourism, both as employees in ski tourism and from
substantial land use fees paid by the mountain railways
company. Therefore, it is not surprising that many farmers
speaking from a modernisation perspective regarding
agriculture have also similar views with respect to winter
tourism. Similarly, tourism entrepreneurs have modernist
views regarding agriculture, and emphasise the mutual
interdependence between farming and ski tourism.
4.3.1. Subsistence narrative
From a subsistence perspective, the story of land use and
landscape changes in the Alps can be narrated in the
following way:
4.3. Subsistence
‘‘Subsistence will probably be the only option. If public
funds are cut back and farmers have to organise
themselves again, they will be forced into subsistence
again, and that’s the best thing that can happen! Then
they will eat their own products, and they will become
again what they once were; they will start getting strong
again’’ (stakeholder 6).
The local stakeholder quoted above expresses a view that
emphasises self-sufficiency and direct producer—consumer
linkages. The logic of subsistence-oriented farm management is still quite common among Swiss farmers. Everything that needs to be bought from outside the farm entails
costs, while everything that can be produced on the farm
contributes to the family livelihood (Anwander Phan-huy,
2002).
At the international, academic level, there is a subsistence discourse that has its theoretical roots in the 1960s
and 1970s as a Marxist-influenced critique of the dominant
modernisation paradigm (cf. Bennholdt-Thomsen, 1981).
Its proponents have continued their resistance to global
capitalism, and in particular against the neo-liberal ‘GLPpolicy’ of globalisation, liberalisation and privatisation
(Bennholdt-Thomsen and Mies, 1997; Bennholdt-Thomsen
et al., 2001). In German-speaking countries the subsistence
discourse is driven by eco-feminist writers such as Veronika
Bennholdt-Thomsen, Maria Mies, Claudia von Werlhof
and Christa Müller who moreover criticise global capitalism as being patriarchal. As an alternative to capitalist,
market-oriented producer-consumer relations, the subsistence position calls for regional networks of farmers and
For most of the history of humankind, up until the
recent past, people have lived in a subsistence-oriented
way, embedded in a local moral economy. In the Alps,
as elsewhere, subsistence-oriented peasants have created
a varied, beautiful and semi-natural cultural landscape.
In the course of the 20th century however, global
capitalism has increasingly transformed agriculture into
an industry dominated from the outside, leading to
dependencies on powerful external actors, social and
environmental problems, and a boring landscape
dominated by monocultures. Formerly sovereign farmers have been degraded to state-dependent wage earners
and victims of the world-markets. Similarly, growthoriented and infrastructure dependent mass winter
tourism has increased outside dependencies and mutilated the alpine landscapes. Capitalist modernisation
however, has no future and the recollection of food as a
means of subsistence, rather than a pure means of profit
making, leads to communal production methods and
new producer-consumer networks.
4.3.2. Values and nature concept
Seen from the subsistence perspective, the aim of
economic agents should not be profit-maximisation, but
securing reproduction in a ‘moral economy’1 (BennholdtThomsen and Mies, 1997; Scott, 1976) and a ‘culture of
frugality’ (Bennholdt-Thomsen and Mies, 1997, p. 93). The
control over the natural resources and the means of
production should be in the hands of local communities
trying to live in harmony with nature (Bennholdt-Thomsen
and Mies, 1997). Generally, state interventions in agriculture are regarded with scepticism. In a radical subsistence
position agricultural subsidies are rejected, particularly
those tied to the size of the cultivated surface, as they are
criticised for ruining the small land holdings while
providing extra profits for the large land holdings
(Bennholdt-Thomsen and Mies, 1997).
In the subsistence narrative, nature is mainly seen from
an utilitarian point of view. Productive, cultural landscapes
are clearly given higher aesthetic value than wilderness.
Bennholdt-Thomsen and Mies (1997, p. 93) argue that
cultural landscapes created by peasants are the landscapes
we truly love, rather than ‘‘untouched nature’’, as ‘‘naı̈ve
conservationist thinking’’ suggests. In general, however,
the argumentation in the literature on subsistence follows
1
In a ‘moral economy’ as understood by Bennholdt-Thomsen and Mies
(1997), every human being is allowed access to the means of production in
order to survive. Every member of society is committed to acting in a way
that allows all the other members of society to survive.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
R. Soliva / Journal of Rural Studies 23 (2007) 62–74
social, political and economic lines, rather than ecological
ones. Biodiversity is primarily seen as a by-product of a
small-scaled cultural landscape that has been historically
shaped by humans.
4.3.3. Constituency
The subsistence narrative, with its ideological background, is rarely told in the Surses, yet it is popular with
some of the workers at the alpine pastures (often persons
with an urban background). Aspects of subsistenceoriented thinking have been incorporated in the philosophy
of the farmers’ protest group ‘Pur Suveran’ (RhaetoRomanic for ‘sovereign farmer’). This organisation, that
today has numerous sympathisers throughout Switzerland,
was founded in 2000 by farmers in the upper Surses as a
means of protest against external determination, especially
through the tourism industry.
4.4. Endogenous development
‘‘[I hope that in the future] we can say: we have
something beautiful, something unique, come and look!
We are aware of it, we take care of it. We can offer
guided tours: I guide botanical tours, someone guides
archaeological tours, gamekeepers or hunters show
animalsy Simply, that there are workplaces here’’
(stakeholder 14).
The above statement contains typical aspects of the
concept of ‘endogenous rural development’ (van der Ploeg
and Long, 1994; van der Ploeg and van Dijk, 1995; Slee,
1994). Endogenous rural development focuses on the
natural and human capital of a rural region, promoting a
‘‘development from within’’ through local participation. It
has been noted repeatedly that endogenous rural development is neither a clear-cut economic concept, nor does it
have clearly defined theoretical roots (e.g. van der Ploeg
et al., 2000; Mühlinghaus, 2002).
In the context of the agricultural sector, endogenous
development has been interpreted as a series of local
and regional responses to the negative consequences
of the modernisation paradigm (van der Ploeg et al.,
2000). A key feature is the multifunctionality of agriculture, involving activities such as the production of
high-quality and region-specific products, nature conservation and landscape management, agro-tourism and the
development of short supply chains. These activities lead to
new interrelations at different levels between farming, the
rural areas and society at large (Knickel and Renting,
2000).
Since the 1990s, the notions related to the endogenous rural development concept have increasingly
influenced regional policy both in the EU and in Switzerland. This is exemplified by the European initiative
LEADER and by the Swiss programme Regio Plus
(Mühlinghaus, 2002).
69
4.4.1. Endogenous development narrative
Proponents of endogenous development would narrate
the story of landscape and land use changes in the Alps as
follows:
When people settled in the Alps they started to transform the once monotonous wilderness into a varied
cultural landscape rich in biodiversity. In the course of
time they developed land use practices and a technology
well adapted to the specific conditions of their environment. Since World War II, however, changes in
agriculture have made the landscape more monotonous.
Moreover, ski tourism has brought about ecological
problems of its own and caused an unhealthy dependence of mountain areas on ski tourism income. In
recent years, both ski tourism and alpine dairy production have stagnated or decreased. This trend is likely to
continue in the future, threatening the present life base of
the mountain population. As the willingness of society to
subsidise peripheral regions decreases and simultaneously, society increasingly demands quality food
products and beautiful, well-tended landscapes for
recovery, mountain areas should focus on their own
landscape-based development potential. Mountain farmers should focus on the environmentally friendly
production of quality speciality products and the
maintenance of a beautiful and varied landscape rich
in biodiversity. Soft forms of summer and winter tourism
should be promoted in cooperation with farmers.
4.4.2. Values and nature concept
A key value in endogenous development is diversity:
diversity reflected in the actors involved and their activities
(Knickel and Renting, 2000), the diversity of agriculture
(Long and van der Ploeg, 1994), but also the diversity of
landscapes and species (cf. Bätzing, 2003). The nature
concept prevailing in endogenous development is anthropocentric and utilitarian, with nature being considered as a
resource to be sustainably used for the long-term wellbeing of rural populations and society at large.
However, non-resource values that encompass beauty,
admiration, cultural heritage, sympathy or rights of
existence also have some importance in this narrative (cf.
van Koppen, 2000). Biodiversity is viewed both as an
outcome of traditional land management practices geared
to local conditions and, under current conditions, as a
commissioned good to be produced and maintained by
farmers, such as through agri-environmental schemes.
4.4.3. Constituency
In the Surses, the endogenous development narrative is
favoured by people from different professions who are
conscious of their environment and culture. In agriculture,
it is most common among younger farmers on mediumsized farms throughout the valley. Many of them have
shifted to organic farming and, to a lesser extent, niche
products (e.g. milk sheep or goats) and direct marketing.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
R. Soliva / Journal of Rural Studies 23 (2007) 62–74
70
Moreover, some of them are involved in agro-tourism
(‘holidays on a farm’) or are contracted for nature
conservation measures (e.g. tending hedges and fens).
Hunziker, submitted for publication), and stakeholders’
understandings of sustainable development trajectories in
their regional context.
5. Applying ideal type narratives as a heuristic device in
rural studies
5.1. Using ideal type narratives to design questionnaire
items: the example of land abandonment
Table 2 summarises the main values, assumptions,
concepts and practices associated with the four narratives.
The ideal type narratives can now be applied as a
heuristic device to design research questions and analyse
people’s views on more specific topics, and their underpinning values, concepts and assumptions. In the BioScene
project, ideal type narratives are used both for further work
with the local stakeholder group, and for a survey at a
larger scale. In a first step, they were taken as the basis for
designing questionnaire items on the causes, processes and
effects of landscape and biodiversity changes in the Surses.
This questionnaire was filled out by all members of the
stakeholder discussion group, and will be developed into a
representative survey across Switzerland. For future work
with the stakeholder group, the findings permit an
interpretation of individual stakeholders’ views on specific
topics with respect to their underlying values and assumptions. In a later stage of the project, the ideal type
narratives were used to analyse stakeholders’ assessments
of landscape scenarios for their region (cf. Soliva and
The use of the ideal type narratives for designing
questionnaire items will now be illustrated, using the
example of land abandonment—a central aspect of land
use change in the Surses. The items are constructed based
on the key values and assumptions underpinning the ideal
type narratives. In the following paragraphs it is briefly
described how land abandonment is viewed in the four
narratives.
Most local stakeholders recognise the tendency that land
which cannot be cultivated with machinery, is extensified
(e.g. conversion of cut meadows to pastures) or altogether
abandoned. It was often mentioned that this tendency is
strongest on high elevation meadows (above the Alpine
pasture belt) and on mid-altitude forest clearings (see also
MacDonald et al., 2000). Whereas stakeholders largely
agree on the primary locations and the direct causes of land
abandonment, their assessment of the process differs
between the narratives towards which they tend.
Only in the wilderness narrative is land abandonment
assessed positively, as it is seen as creating space for
Table 2
Summary of the main values, assumptions, concepts and practices associated with the four narratives
Wilderness
Modernisation
Subsistence
Endogenous development
Key values
Intrinsic value of nature;
natural processes;
aesthetic value of
wilderness
Profit, control over nature
Diversity, sustainability,
regional solidarity
Key assumptions
Undisturbed ecosystems
are spatio-temporal
mosaics; large wilderness
areas required
Main knowledge-bases
Conservation biology
Nature concept
Bio-egalitarian, Arcadian
Homo economicus,
continuation and
potential of technological
progress; state support
required
Neo-classical economic
theory
Utilitarian
Independence, tradition,
respect for ancestors,
frugality, communal
solidarity, control over
nature
Persistence of subsistenceoriented moral economy;
threat of food shortage
Biodiversity assumptions
Highest in wilderness
Irrelevant
Highest in traditional
cultural landscapes
Ideal landscape, landscape
concept
Untouched natural
landscape; landscape as a
result of natural processes
Intensively used
landscape; landscape as a
commodity and raw
material
Ideal mountain
agriculture
None
Intensive, modernised
food production
Main practices
Process-oriented nature
conservation
Intensive agriculture,
intensive tourism
Small-structured cultural
landscape; landscape as
part of identity, moulded
by its users and moulding
its users
Small-structured
subsistence-oriented
agriculture; farming as a
way of life
Extensive, subsistenceoriented agriculture
Eco-feminism, peasant
studies
Utilitarian
Endogenous development
potential of rural regions
Regional economics, rural
sociology
Utilitarian with Arcadian
elements
Highest in cultural
landscape with wilderness
patches
Varied cultural landscape;
landscape as living space
and development
potential
Sustainable,
multifunctional
agriculture
Variety of sustainable
land use practices
ARTICLE IN PRESS
R. Soliva / Journal of Rural Studies 23 (2007) 62–74
71
Table 3
Questionnaire items regarding land abandonment, based on the ideal type narratives
What is your opinion on the following statements?
If in the Surses agricultural land is abandoned and grown over it is y
y a chance for nature because in these areas nature is allowed to take its own course. (W; value: natural processes, intrinsic value of nature)
y a possible threat for people because nature is not controlled anymore. (S, M; value: control over nature)
y a concomitant of social and economic change, which has to be accepted. (M, value: profit)
y a manifestation of disrespect towards the labour of our ancestors, who spent a lot of time and effort clearing and cultivating these areas. (S; value:
respect for ancestors)
y a loss of cultural heritage and tradition, because this way the cultural landscape is changing. (S; value: tradition)
y an enrichment of the landscape, as long as the area is not fully overgrown. (E; value: diversity)
y bad for species diversity, because there are more species in a managed cultural landscape than on uncultivated land. (S; assumption: biodiversity is
highest in traditional cultural landscapes)
y good for species diversity, as long as the area is not fully overgrown. (E; assumption: biodiversity is highest in cultural landscapes with wilderness patches)
y bad for security as this increases the risk of natural hazards, such as avalanches and landslides (M, S, E; assumption: land abandonment causes natural
hazards)
y bad for tourism, because it looks untidy and is not as easily accessible anymore. (M, S, E; assumption: abandoned landscapes are unappealing)
y good for tourism, because people from the cities like wild and untouched landscapes. (W; aesthetic value of wilderness)
y critical for food supply in times of crises. (S; assumption: threat of food shortage)
W—wilderness narrative; M—modernisation narrative; S—subsistence narrative; E—endogenous development narrative.
Ratings were on a five-point Likert scale.
wilderness and thus enabling natural processes. Wilderness
is also seen as aesthetically appealing.
In the modernisation narrative, the abandonment of
marginal land is neither welcomed nor deplored but
regarded as a logical consequence of modernisation. From
this view, it is accepted as a fact that areas that cannot be
used profitably anymore are given up:
‘‘The upper boundary of the mown area has been
lowered a bit. This is understandable, it’s everywhere
like this’’ (stakeholder 4).
Proponents of the endogenous development narrative
assess land abandonment in a somewhat ambivalent way.
Advanced stages of vegetation succession on formerly
cultivated land are in most cases perceived as a loss of
landscape, cultural and biological diversity. This is
deplored even more as the ‘mosaic’ of forest and open
land is often seen as a part of the cultural identity of a
region (cf. Rodewald, 2001). On the other hand, early
succession stages and the re-wilding of species-poor former
agricultural land are often valued positively, both in
ecological and aesthetic terms (cf. Hunziker, 1995, 2000).
The strongest rejection of land abandonment comes
from the subsistence narrative. In this view, land abandonment is not only seen as a loss of aesthetical and biological
value and cultural heritage, but also as disrespect towards
tradition and the labour of ancestors, who spent much time
keeping agricultural land clear from encroaching shrubs:
‘‘I have a meadow up there, it’s almost a forest today. I
would have liked to conserve that, just as a sign of
respect for my ancestors who worked hard up there’’
(stakeholder 5).
Moreover, it is seen as a waste of productive land, which
may well be needed in times of food shortages. In this
respect, the notion of subsistence and autarchy is extended
to the national level. Some stakeholders alluded to the food
shortage during World War II, when every patch of
potentially productive land was cultivated as per federal
decree (the so-called ‘Plan Wahlen’), and argued that this
might happen again in the future:
‘‘Who tells us that in thirty, forty years we wouldn’t be
glad if we could implement subsistence more or less
swiftly?’’ (stakeholder 4)
Finally, many stakeholders expressed a fear that land
abandonment and subsequent natural reafforestation and
re-wilding would lead to an increased risk of erosion and
natural hazards, such as avalanches and landslides.
Having identified the main views on land abandonment
in the four narratives, questionnaire items have been
developed based on these views, as shown in Table 3.
Since in the interviews the topics had been discussed in a
relatively broad way and specific aspects like land
abandonment were not covered to the same extent in all
interviews, the questionnaire enabled a more systematic
investigation of stakeholders’ specific views on land
abandonment, and their underlying values and assumptions. Results of the questionnaire survey and the group
discussion with the local stakeholders are presented
and analysed by Soliva and Hunziker (submitted for
publication).
6. Conclusion
Ideal type narratives are a novel and promising heuristic
device in rural studies for several reasons:
(1) Narratives or ‘stories’ are a linguistic form commonly
used by people to understand the human world
ARTICLE IN PRESS
72
R. Soliva / Journal of Rural Studies 23 (2007) 62–74
(Polkinghorne, 1988). Thus, people construct narratives to make sense of their experience of changes in
land use, landscape and biodiversity. In an ideal type
form, they can be useful heuristic devices in landscape
and biodiversity research and practice, as they help to
understand and communicate complex relations.
(2) Narratives are a suitable tool for representing people’s
perceptions of change because they always include the
temporal dimension.
(3) The use of ideal type narratives enables the integration
of individual stakeholder views and scientific, theoretical concepts and their underpinning value systems.
However, when the ideal type narratives were presented
in written form to the members of the stakeholder group
and assessed by them, their limits became apparent. The
ideal type narratives constructed in this study seem to be
rather too complex to be assessed en bloc by stakeholders.
Individual stakeholders tend to agree with elements of all
narratives—although to varying degrees—but seldom with
the narratives as entities. This is not surprising, as people’s
views are often hybrids of different ideal types. Nevertheless, the arguments regarding particular issues that are
brought forward by individual stakeholders are mostly
based on the values and assumptions found in the ideal
type narratives. Using ideal type narratives thus facilitates
the analysis and interpretation of stakeholder views
regarding specific issues of landscape and biodiversity
changes, and their underpinning values and assumptions.
In this paper, ideal type narratives were primarily
presented as a heuristic device in rural studies. Indeed,
they proved to be helpful in designing a theory-guided
questionnaire. Moreover they have the potential to become
a useful tool in participatory landscape and biodiversity
planning and management, as a stimulant for stakeholder
group discussions. If local stakeholders are asked to discuss
the narratives, they will be confronted with positions whose
existence they may not have been aware of. A skilfully
facilitated group discussion may offer them the chance to
understand the underlying values, assumptions and concepts of other people’s views, thus minimising misunderstandings and enabling a more fruitful debate.
It will be interesting to see how well narratives can be
applied to particular participatory landscape and biodiversity planning processes. At a later stage of the BioScene
project they were successfully used as a tool for the
interpretation of stakeholders’ assessments of landscape
scenarios (Soliva and Hunziker, submitted for publication).
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Marcel Hunziker, Janine Bolliger,
Tamsin Cooper, Katrine Højring and three anonymous
referees for their valuable comments on earlier drafts. This
study was conducted in the BioScene project, with financial
support from the Swiss Federal Office for Education and
Science.
References
Amt für Wirtschaft und Tourismus Graubünden, 2003. Graubünden in
Zahlen 2003. Chur.
Anwander Phan-huy, S., 2002. Zwischen Agri-Kultur und LandWirtschaft. Politische und gesellschaftliche Perspektiven der Schweizer
Landwirtschaft. Agrarwirtschaft und Agrarsoziologie 2/02, 215–222.
Bätzing, W., 2003. Die Alpen. Geschichte und Zukunft einer europäischen
Kulturlandschaft, second ed. C.H. Beck, München.
Baur, P., 1998. Ökologischer Ausgleich durch Direktzahlungen—Denkanstösse für eine zielgerechte Weiterentwicklung. Publications of the
Institute of Agricultural Economics, ETH Zürich.
Bennholdt-Thomsen, V., 1981. Subsistenzproduktion und erweiterte
Reproduktion. Ein Beitrag zur Produktionsweisendiskussion. In:
Backhaus, H.G., et al. (Eds.), Gesellschaft. Beiträge zur Marxschen
Theorie 14. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt/M., pp. 30–51.
Bennholdt-Thomsen, V., Mies, M., 1997. Eine Kuh für Hillary. Die
Subsistenzperspektive. Frauenoffensive, München.
Bennholdt-Thomsen, von Werlhof, V.C., Faraclas, N. (Eds.), 2001. There
is an Alternative: Subsistence and Worldwide Resistance to Corporate
Globalization. Zed, London.
BFS (Bundesamt für Statistik), 1980, 2000. Landwirtschaftliche Betriebsstrukturerhebung. Neuchâtel.
BFS (Bundesamt für Statistik), 1992, 2001. Die Bodennutzung der
Schweiz—Arealstatistik 1979–1985/1992–1997. Bern.
Buchecker, M., Kianicka, S., Junker, B. Value systems: drivers of humanlandscape interactions. In: Kienast, F., Ghosh, S., Wildi, O. (Eds.),
A changing World: Challenges for Landscape Research. Kluwer
‘‘Monographs in Landscape Ecology’’, Cambridge (‘‘Cambridge
Studies in Landscape Ecology’’), Dordrecht (in print).
Buttel, F.H., 2000. Ecological modernization as social theory. Geoforum
31, 57–65.
Clandinin, D.J., Connelly, F.M., 2000. Narrative Inquiry. Jossey-Bass
Publishers, San Francisco.
Coles, R., 1989. The Call of Stories: Teaching and the Moral Imagination.
Houghton Mifflin, Boston.
Czarniawska, B., 1997. Narrating the Organization. Dramas of Institutional Identity. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, London.
Devall, B., 1997. Die tiefenökologische Bewegung. In: Birnbacher,
D. (Ed.), Ökophilosophie. Reclam, Stuttgart, pp. 17–59.
Drengson, A.R., 1980. Shifting paradigms: from the technocratic to
person–planetary. Environmental Ethics 3, 221–240.
FAT (Eidgenössische Forschungsanstalt für Agrarwirtschaft und Landtechnik), 2002. Zentrale Auswertung von Buchhaltungsdaten. Tänikon.
Geiger, C., 2001. Von 3 auf 8 zu 100. In: Graubünden weiter als das Auge
reicht, Vereinigung Bündner Umweltorganisationen VBU (Ed.).
Verlag Bündner Monatsblatt, Chur, pp. 76–85.
Gerhardt, U., 1995. Typenbildung. In: Flick, U., v.Kardoff, E., Keupp,
H., v.Rosenstiel, L., Wolff, S. (Eds.), Handbuch Qualitative Sozialforschung—Grundlagen, Konzepte, Methoden und Anwendungen,
second ed. Beltz, Weinheim, pp. 435–439.
Gerhardt, U., 2001. Idealtypus: zur methodologischen Begründung der
modernen Soziologie. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt a.M.
Giddens, A., 1984. The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of
Structuration. Polity Press, Cambridge.
Glaser, B.G., 1978. Theoretical Sensitivity: Advances in the Methodology
of Grounded Theory. Sociology Press, Mill Valley, CA.
Glaser, B.G., Strauss, A.L., 1967. The Discovery of Grounded Theory.
Strategies for Qualitative Research. Aldine, Chicago.
Hahne, U., von Stackelberg, K., 1994. Regionale Entwicklungstheorien.
Konkurrierende Ansätze zur Erklärung der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung von Regionen. Ein Überblick. EURES, Freiburg.
Hajer, M.A., 1996. Ecological modernisation as cultural politics. In:
Lash, S., Szerszynski, B., Wynne, B. (Eds.), Risk, Environment and Modernity: Towards a New Ecology. Sage, London,
pp. 246–268.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
R. Soliva / Journal of Rural Studies 23 (2007) 62–74
Halfacree, K.H., 1993. Locality and social representation: space, discourse
and alternative definitions of the rural. Journal of Rural Studies 9,
23–37.
Hunziker, M., 1995. The spontaneous reafforestation in abandoned
agricultural lands: perception and aesthetic assessment by locals and
tourists. Landscape and Urban Planning 31, 399–410.
Hunziker, M., 2000. Einstellungen der Bevölkerung zu möglichen Landschaftsentwicklungen in den Alpen. Eidg. Forschungsanstalt WSL,
Birmensdorf.
Joos-Bleuler, T., 2001. Auf der neuen Ofenbank. In: Graubünden weiter
als das Auge reicht, Vereinigung Bündner Umweltorganisationen VBU
(Ed.). Verlag Bündner Monatsblatt, Chur, pp. 76–85.
Knickel, K., Renting, H., 2000. Methodological and conceptual issues in
the study of multifunctionality and rural development. Sociologia
Ruralis 40, 512–528.
Long, A., van der Ploeg, J.D., 1994. Endogenous development: practices
and perspectives. In: van der Ploeg, J.D., Long, A. (Eds.), Born from
Within. Practice and Perspectives of Endogenous Rural Development.
Van Gorcum, Assen, pp. 1–6.
Lowe, P., Murdoch, J., Ward, N., 1995. Networks in rural development: beyond exogenous and endogenous models. In: van der
Ploeg, J.D., van Dijk, G. (Eds.), Beyond Modernization. The
Impact of Endogenous Rural Development. Van Gorcum, Assen,
pp. 87–105.
MacDonald, D., Crabtree, J.R., Wiesinger, G., Dax, T., Stamou, N.,
Fleury, P., Gutierrez Lazpita, J., Gibon, A., 2000. Agricultural
abandonment in mountain areas of Europe: Environmental consequences and policy response. Journal of Environmental Management 59, 47–69.
Madsen, L.M., Adriansen, H.K., 2004. Understanding the use of rural
space: the need for multi-methods. Journal of Rural Studies 20,
485–497.
Manfredo, M.J., Teel, T.L., Bright, A.D., 2004. Application of the
concepts of values and attitudes in human dimensions of natural
resources research. In: Manfredo, M.J., et al. (Eds.), Society and
Natural Resources. A Summary of Knowledge, Prepared for the Tenth
International Symposium on Society and Resource Management.
Modern Litho, Jefferson, MO.
Miles, M.B., Huberman, A.M., 1994. Qualitative Data Analysis—An
Expanded Sourcebook, second ed. Sage, Thousand Oaks/London/
New Delhi.
Mol, A.P.J., 1997. Ecological modernization: industrial transformations
and environmental reform. In: Redclift, M., Woodgate, G. (Eds.), The
International Handbook of Environmental Sociology. Edward Elgar,
London, pp. 138–149.
Mühlinghaus, S., 2002. Eigenständige Regionalentwicklung im
Schweizer Berggebiet—Umsetzungsprozesse, Erfolgsaussichten und
Förderansätze. Ostschweizerische Geographische Gesellschaft, St.
Gallen.
Müller, C., 1999. Von der Subsistenz- zur Warenorientierung. In:
Bennholdt-Thomsen, V., Holzer, B., Müller, C. (Eds.), Das Subsistenzhandbuch. Promedia, Wien, pp. 31–47.
Naess, A., 1973. The shallow and the deep, long-range ecology movement:
a summary. Inquiry 16, 95–100.
Polkinghorne, D.E., 1988. Narrative Knowing and the Human Sciences.
State University of New York Press, Albany.
Polkinghorne, D.E., 1995. Narrative configuration in qualitative analysis.
Qualitative Studies in Education 8, 5–23.
Potteiger, M., Purinton, J., 1998. Landscape Narratives. Design Practices
for Telling Stories. Wiley, New York, etc.
Reichholf, H.J., 1996. In dubio pro reo! Mehr Toleranz für fremde Arten.
Nationalpark 96, 21–26.
Remmert, H., 1985. Was geschieht im Klimax-Stadium? Ökologisches
Gleichgewicht durch Mosaik aus desynchronen Zyklen. Naturwissenschaften 72, 505–512.
Remmert, H., 1988. Naturschutz. Ein Lesebuch nicht nur für Planer,
Politiker und Polizisten, Publizisten und Juristen. Springer, Berlin/
Heidelberg/New York/London/Paris/Tokyo.
73
Remmert, H. (Ed.), 1991. The Mosaic-Cycle Concept of Ecosystems.
Ecological Studies 85. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg/New York/London/Paris/Tokyo.
Rodewald, R., 2001. Ursprung, Besinnungsort, Wirtschaftsfaktor. In:
Graubünden weiter als das Auge reicht, Vereinigung Bündner
Umweltorganisationen VBU (Ed.). Verlag Bündner Monatsblatt,
Chur, pp. 64–75.
Rodewald, R., Knoepfel, P., 2002. Politique régionale et développement
rural en Suisse. Etat et lieux. IDHEAP, Chavannes-près-Renens.
Roe, E., 1994. Narrative Policy Analysis: Theory and Practice. Duke
University Press, Durham.
Scherzinger, W., 1997. Tun oder unterlassen? Aspekte des Prozessschutzes
und Bedeutung des ‘‘Nichts-Tuns’’ im Naturschutz. In: Wildnis—ein
neues Leitbild!? Möglichkeiten und Grenzen ungestörter Naturentwicklung in Mitteleuropa. Laufener Seminarbeiträge 97/1, ANL,
München, pp. 31–44.
Schmid, B., 2003. Biodiversität: Prinzip und Messbarkeit. In: Kulturelle
Divesität im Alpenraum (Proceedings of a Workshop of the Swiss
Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences, Thun, 29, 30 November
2002). Schweizerische Akademie der Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften, Bern, pp. 15–38.
Schwartz, H., 1992. Universals in the content and structure of values:
theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. Advances in
experimental social psychology 25, 1–65.
Scott, J., 1976. The Moral Economy of the Peasant. Rebellion
and Subsistence in Southeast Asia. Yale Univ. Press, New Haven/
London.
Slee, B., 1994. Theoretical aspects of the study of endogenous development. In: van der Ploeg, J.D., Long, A. (Eds.), Born from Within.
Practice and Perspectives of Endogenous Rural Development. Van
Gorcum, Assen, pp. 184–194.
Soliva, R., Hunziker, M. Beyond the visual dimension: using ideal-type
narratives to analyze people’s assessments of landscape scenarios.
Land Use Policy (submitted for publication).
Strauss, A., 1991. Grundlagen qualitativer Sozialforschung—Datenanalyse und Theoriebildung in der empirischen soziologischen Forschung.
Fink, München.
Stremlow, M., Sidler, C., 2002. Schreibzüge durch die Wildnis. Wildnisvorstellungen in Literatur und Printmedien der Schweiz. Haupt,
Bern.
Stucki, B., Weiss, J., 1995. Landwirtschaft für wen? Bauern und
Bäuerinnen zwischen Produktion und Ökolohn. Analyse eines Konflikts, Zürich.
Taylor, P.W., 1997. Die Ethik der Achtung für die Natur. In: Birnbacher,
D. (Ed.), Ökophilosophie. Reclam, Stuttgart, pp. 77–116.
Touraine, A., 1985. An introduction to the study on social movements.
Social Research 52, 749–787.
van der Ploeg, J.D., 1994. Styles of farming: an introductory note on
concepts and methodology. In: van der Ploeg, J.D., Long, A. (Eds.),
Born from Within. Practice and Perspectives of Endogenous Rural
Development. Van Gorcum, Assen, pp. 7–29.
van der Ploeg, J.D., 1995. From structural development to structural
involution: the impact of new development in Dutch agriculture. In:
van der Ploeg, J.D., van Dijk, G. (Eds.), Beyond Modernization. The
Impact of Endogenous Rural Development. Van Gorcum, Assen,
pp. 109–145.
van der Ploeg, J.D., Long, A. (Eds.), 1994. Born from Within. Practice
and Perspectives of Endogenous Rural Development. Van Gorcum,
Assen.
van der Ploeg, J.D., van Dijk, G. (Eds.), 1995. Beyond Modernization. The Impact of Endogenous Rural Development. Van Gorcum,
Assen.
van der Ploeg, J.D., Renting, H., Brunori, G., Knickel, K., Mannion, J.,
Marsden, T., de Roest, K., Sevilla-Guzmán, E., Ventura, F., 2000.
Rural development: from practices and policies towards theory.
Sociologia Ruralis 40, 391–408.
van Koppen, C.S.A., 2000. Resource, Arcadia, lifeworld. Nature concepts
in environmental sociology. Sociologia Ruralis 40, 300–318.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
74
R. Soliva / Journal of Rural Studies 23 (2007) 62–74
Weber, M., 1904/1973. Die ‘‘Objektivität’’ sozialwissenschaftlicher und
sozialpolitischer Erkenntnis. In: Winckelmann, J. (Ed.), Gesammelte
Aufsätze zur Wissenschaftslehre. Mohr, Tübingen, pp. 146–214.
Whatmore, S., 1994. Farm household strategies and styles of farming:
assessing the utility of farm typologies. In: van der Ploeg, J.D., Long,
A. (Eds.), Born from Within. Practice and Perspectives of Endogenous
Rural Development. Van Gorcum, Assen, pp. 30–37.
Wiedemann, P., 1995. Gegenstandsnahe Theoriebildung. In: Flick, U., v.
Kardoff, E., Keupp, H., v.Rosenstiel, L., Wolff, S. (Eds.), Handbuch
Qualitative Sozialforschung—Grundlagen, Konzepte, Methoden und
Anwendungen, second ed. Beltz, Weinheim, pp. 440–445.
Wilson, E.O., 1993. Biophilia and the conservation ethic. In: Kellert, S.R.,
Wilson, E.O. (Eds.), The Biophilia Hypothesis. Island Press,
Washington, DC, pp. 31–41.
Worster, D., 1985. Nature’s Economy: a History of Ecological Ideas.
Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge.
Zegg, R., Matter, H.-J., et al., 1993. Deshalb leben wir vom Tourismusy
Kurzfassung der Studie ‘‘Die wirtschaftliche Bedeutung des Tourismus
in der Region Mittelbünden.’’ Grischconsulta AG, Chur.
Ziegler, U., 2002. Prozessschutz vor dem Hintergrund der Ideengeschichte
des Naturschutzes. Department für Ökologie, Technische Universität
München, Freising.