Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Causes and Consequences of Land Use Changes in Rural North America

博士生John Michels(伊利诺伊大学芝加哥分校)将在Molly Doane博士的指导下，对北美和其他地区农村地区目前正在经历的阶级转变过程进行研究。这项研究将在加拿大安大略省的阿尔马贡高地进行，那里的工人阶级空间正在被改造成上层住宅和商业区。这些过程将农村从工作场所重塑为休闲场所，有时会在不同的居民群体之间就农村空间的适当使用和意义产生紧张和联盟。在整个项目过程中，研究人员将进行人种学和档案研究。档案研究将在村办公室、村和大学图书馆以及省政府办公室进行。民族志部分包括参与者观察和一系列深入的、半结构化的访谈。活动包括定期参加社区会议、开放日、招聘会、节日、美食活动、筹款活动和其他社交活动。参加者在工作地点和家中进行日常活动时，将有更多的时间与他们在一起。此外，将在项目过程中对100名举报人进行一系列200次半结构化访谈。通过民族志追踪这些从以劳动为导向的农村生产到以休闲为导向的农村消费的变化，这项研究承诺帮助对无论在哪里发现的农村景观转变所涉及的过程进行理论推导。这项研究的结果也将对规划者和政策制定者有用，这些规划者和政策制定者关心的是鼓励有益的影响和改善对受影响居民的不利影响。资助这项研究还有助于培养研究生。

Doctoral student John Michels (University of Illinois at Chicago), with the guidance of Dr. Molly Doane, will undertake research on the processes of class transformation currently being experienced in rural areas of North America and elsewhere. This research will be carried out in the Almaguin Highlands, Ontario, Canada, where working-class spaces are being transformed into upper-class residential and commercial zones. These processes recast the countryside from a place of work to a place of leisure, sometimes generating both tensions and alliances between various groups of residents over proper uses and meanings of rural space. Throughout the course of the project the researcher will carry out both ethnographic and archival research. Archival research will take place in village offices, village and university libraries, and provincial governmental offices. The ethnographic portion includes participant observation and a series of in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Activities include regular attendance at community meetings, open houses, job fairs, festivals, food drives, fundraisers, and other social events. Additional time will be spent with participants as they go about their daily activities at their places of employment and in their homes. Furthermore, a series of 200 semi-structured interviews will be conducted with a sample of 100 informants over the course of the project. By ethnographically tracking these changes from labor-oriented rural production to leisure-oriented rural consumption, this study promises to help theorize the processes involved in the transformation of rural landscapes wherever they are found. Findings from the research will also be useful to planners and policy makers concerned with encouraging the beneficial effects and ameliorating the less beneficial ones for affected residents. Funding this research also contributes to the training of a graduate student.