Generational transmission of smallholder farms in late capitalism

Abstract

Despite contextual differences, the future of smallholder farming faces many similar challenges worldwide. This introduction to the special section previews case studies from Australia, Austria, Ireland and Japan of generational transmission of smallholder farms in late capitalism. It frames key issues in the generational reproduction of smallholder farming, combining perspectives from agrarian studies and youth studies. The cases include intrafamilial succession and extrafamilial transmission to “newcomer” farmers. Intergenerational farm transfers are a two-way interaction between the older and the younger generations, in which neither fully controls the process.