November 1, 2018

Research Question For My Readers

For chapter two. I would like to know how you would define a particular word. There are no right or wrong answers, and your answer doesn't have to be lengthy or profound. Just off the top of your head, tell me what you think of when you hear or read this word.

How would you define?
agrarianism

Thank you for taking time to help!

32 comments:

Gorges Smythe said...

A lifestyle concentrating on agriculture as a the central driver of society.

Su Ba said...

Without running to look it up, my gut interpretation is.......a social system based upon agriculture and its positive ethics. Not the mega type farming found so commonly in the US today, but rather the smaller individually owned and operated farms. The independent farmer would be the recipient of social respect and importance. The social system would center around, or have as a foundation, the farmer. .

1st Man said...

The words/phrases that come to my mind are:

Lifestyle. Community. People. Gardening. Livestock. Bartering. Sharing. Off grid. Back to basics. Simpler life.

Hope that helps!!

Donna OShaughnessy said...

Love of agriculture. Love of farming.

Then I looked it up. A bit more convoluted in definition.

Mama Pea said...

What Su Ba said. A return to the laws of nature and common sense.

Lady Locust said...

Living with the land in a mutually beneficial relationship in order to to sustain to some degree. (The level of sustainability could of course vary greatly.)
Great question- looking forward to reading other perspectives.

Debora said...

To live a land-based life.

wyomingheart said...

Hands on Agricultural living.

Rain said...

I know the word, but I don't know the dictionary word, so instead of Googling it I will just tell you what I think! :) I guess it's to do with agriculture by definition. My definition is living off the land, using every bit of the land for survival and not relying on money to get by. :)

Nancy In Boise said...

Being an agrarian?

Goatldi said...

Some good applicable answers. I will toss in barter system. If you depend on another to produce something you can’t your treatment of and value for that person becomes more symbiotic.

If I spout jibberish just disregard and press on. 😊

Kris said...

A society based on agriculture and the side effects of people working on/with the land.

Leigh said...

Folks, I am loving all these answers. Thank you, yes, they do help! I a couple of weeks I'll do a post on agrarianism and how I see it. But please keep your thoughts coming.

Unknown said...

Belief that farming isn't just an activity, but a way of life focused on the land. Also conveys a sense that it is a superior way of life to industrialism.

tpals said...

A society based on the land, revolving around farming and supporting the farming way of life.

Cockeyed Jo said...

I agree with tpals.
Leigh, just a note here.O found a copy of your 5 acres book in my roommate's bookshelf.

Leigh said...

Unknown and tpals, thanks!

Oh Jo, that made me smile! My first thoughts on agrarianism are in that book. :)

M.E. Masterson said...

If I can still add my 2 cents.?
I see it as a way of life...rural farms. ma and pop operations. it is a way of life in agriculture and a social status. " I am a farmer" having a pride of ownership, stewards of said land

maybe I don't have a good understanding of the word but this is my thoughts nonetheless.

I will stop babbling now...ha ha ha

interesting, really.... look forwarx to your writings

Leigh said...

M.E. never too late! And no such thing as babbling! Impressions are exactly what I'm looking for. A good writer knows her audience and takes care to define her terms. You all are helping me get a good feel for the understanding of my audience.

Ed said...

A belief that living on a farm is a way of life and in many aspects superior to living in an urban environment.

Constance said...

It's the way I grew up, you care for the land and the land cares for you. My family were farmers and we always had fresh food and vegetables. Canning and preserving food was our way of life. I am 66 years old and suddenly people think respecting and caring for nature and the land is a new thing. Everything we ate was organic, I remember my grandmother telling me that when people left the farms they were leaving God and I believe that is the truth. When you work with the land, when you work with your hands and heart you are with God.It is the natural way of things.

deb harvey said...

i think of health of body and soul, a kind of wholesomeness.
i see an apple cheeked man, at sunset, resting on his digging fork and looking up at the sky. silly, isn't it?
it is the ideal.

Quinn said...

A fancy word for farming? ;)

Toirdhealbheach Beucail said...

A philosophy which embraces agriculture as the foundational block of society and culture.

Peter said...

I think of it as a farming lifestyle. But "farming" as in small family mixed use farms rather than mega industrial farming.

Kev Alviti said...

A rural society with farming forming the base industry from which the others stem from.

Mike Yukon said...

Agrarianism:
It’s not a word I come across very often. I first looked it up when following “Granny Miller” and her blog when she had it up and running. Because of this, I associate Agrarian with all aspects of “raising farm animals, small farming and homesteading”. Agrarianism just doesn’t jump off my tongue well.

Melody A. said...

living for the land and off the land, close to the earth, farming on a small scale that benefits the members of a collective be that a family , a group of like minded individuals or just one person. understanding the rhythms of the land so differently from someone that never has any real contact with it, with their eyes or hands or ears or nose or heart. Happy November from Iowa

M.K. said...

Totally off the top of my head ... a lifestyle lived close to the ground, focused on growing things from the ground. A soil farming lifestyle, I guess.

Chris said...

The integration of life and livelihood, to food and fibre production on the land. Interested in reading your thoughts on it, Leigh.

Erin said...

I was reading a book called The Invention of Nature about Alexander von Humboldt, and there's a section in there about how he met Thomas Jefferson that talked about how Jefferson was a big proponent of agrarianism as part of the new republic. As long as a person had his own piece of land, Jefferson believed that the person was independent. Jefferson himself was a pretty awesome farmer apparently--he even argued that only farmers should be elected as congressmen because he thought they were "the true representatives of the great American interest."

I responded a little late--maybe you can do a little more research and still work it in there for your book! I just finished 5 Acres and a Dream the book and loved it and can't wait for the next installment.

http://www.ushistory.org/us/20b.asp

Leigh said...

Erin, not too late at all! Thank you so much for your input and the link. It will definitely be a help. The sequel is coming along at a slow but steady pace, so your comment is much appreciated.