Taskscapes and community in rural Yorkshire, 1920-1965

Ramsden, Stefan; Rowling, Jane

Abstract

Using the framework of Tim Ingold’s concept of ‘taskscape’, this article seeks to address the role of work in shaping the dynamics of rural community in the mid-twentieth century. We do this by examining oral histories of two communities which have important points of similarity and difference: the community farming on the small, mixed farms of Lower Wharfedale, on the border between North and West Yorkshire, and the workers and farmers cultivating the large-scale arable enterprises of the East Riding of Yorkshire Wolds. We argue that the form of agricultural work which took place in these localities during the mid-twentieth century was crucial in setting up the types of work relationships which characterised the different communities there. Localised differences manifested in several ways through the unique taskscapes of the two case studies: a deeply stratified community structure versus pseudo-familial employment relationships; proletarian village communities versus close farmer-employee relationships; and mobility versus stability.

Citation

Ramsden, S., & Rowling, J. (2021). Taskscapes and community in rural Yorkshire, 1920-1965. The Agricultural history review, 69(1), 111-131

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 5, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Jun 1, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021-06
• Deposit Date: May 24, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 2, 2024
• Journal: The Agricultural history review
• Print ISSN: 0002-1490
• Publisher: British Agricultural History Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 69
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 111-131
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3773422
• Publisher URL: https://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/bahs/agrev/2021/00000069/00000001/art00008#expand/collapse