Gatekeepers,Shareholders, and Evangelists: Expanding Communication Networks of African American Forest Landowners in North Carolina

The Sustainable Forestry and African American Land Retention Program (SFLR) was launched in 2012 to increase adoption of sustainable forestry practices among African American landowners in the southeastern United States to prevent land loss, increase forest health, and build economic assets. One of its main goals was to build communication networks through which African American landowners could obtain and share information about forestry practices and landowner assistance programs independent of public agencies. To measure and examine the growth of these communication networks over a three-year period (2014-2017), we conducted 87 interviews with landowners (24 of whom were interviewed multiple times), SFLR personnel, and Federal and State staff members in North Carolina. We used complementary methods of data gathering and analysis, including social network analysis and qualitative analysis. Our results showed expanding communication networks will be sustained independently of the program over time, although there is still a heavy reliance on program personnel.     

Mixing qualitative research methods in children's geographies

Human geographers are increasingly employing mixed-method approaches in their research, including in children's geographies, where 'child-centred' methods are often used alongside participant observation and semi-structured interviews to investigate children's perceptions and experiences. Mixing qualitative methods in this way raises a number of ethical and methodological issues, particularly regarding the changing power relationships between researchers and participants. This article considers the challenges and potential benefits of combining methods from participatory and interpretive approaches through triangulation or 'crystallisation'. The issues are illustrated through an empirical case study on children, health and exercise in the everyday spaces of the primary school.     

PERSONAL ICONS AND AMULETS: REFLECTIONS OF CULTURE-VALUES AND HUMAN/LAND RELATIONSHIPS

Abstract

The chauffeuring of children to/from school and childcare providers has received limited attention in previous research, although it structures parents' everyday activities in important ways. Combining analytical and cultural perspectives on juggling employment and caregiving, I explore the impact of such factors as household structure, employment and commute characteristics, residential location, and culturally defined norms about parenthood on chauffeuring arrangements for dual-earner households in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Fathers conduct a considerable share of chauffeuring trips, but arrangements are often informed by traditional gender norms. The spatial variability in the gendering of chauffeuring is limited.