Theses and Dissertations
Issuing Body
Mississippi State University
Advisor
Hagerman, Margaret Ann
Committee Member
Leap, Braden T.
Committee Member
Peterson, Lindsey
Committee Member
Hossfeld, Leslie H.
Date of Degree
5-3-2019
Original embargo terms
Complete embargo for 2 years
Document Type
Graduate Thesis - Open Access
Major
Sociology
Degree Name
Master of Science
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Department of Sociology
Abstract
In this thesis, I explore how white producers of U.S. agriculture’s top commodity—cattle—understand participation in government farm programs. As such, the central research question guiding this research is: how do white Mississippi cattle producers portray their decisions to pursue (or not pursue) government farm programs? Specifically, I offer insights into how farmers reconcile tension between being independent/self-sufficient and accepting government subsidies. Using data from 289 hours of participant observation at agricultural events and 33 interviews with producers, I examine sociologically how these understandings of farm program participation relate to producers’ ideological notions of “success” and how race and gender shape these understandings.
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/11668/20933
Recommended Citation
Russell, Kelli J., "The developers and the independents: white Mississippi cattle producers’ perspectives on government farm programs and success" (2019). Theses and Dissertations. 4309.
https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/td/4309
