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A Brief Political History of South Australian Agriculture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2015

SIMON J. FIELKE  and
DOUGLAS K. BARDSLEY
SIMON J. FIELKE
Affiliation:
Geography, Environment and Population, The University of Adelaide, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide SA 5005, Australia [email protected]
DOUGLAS K. BARDSLEY
Affiliation:
Geography, Environment and Population, The University of Adelaide, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide SA 5005, Australia [email protected]
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Abstract:

This paper aims to explain why South Australian agricultural land use is focused on continually increasing productivity, when the majority of produce is exported, at the long-term expense of agriculturally-based communities and the environment. A historical analysis of literature relevant to the agricultural development of South Australia is used chronologically to report aspects of the industry that continue to cause concerns in the present day. The historically dominant capitalist socio-economic system and ‘anthropocentric’ world views of farmers, politicians, and key stakeholders have resulted in detrimental social, environmental and political outcomes. Although recognition of the environmental impacts of agricultural land use has increased dramatically since the 1980s, conventional productivist, export oriented farming still dominates the South Australian landscape. A combination of market oriented initiatives and concerned producers are, however, contributing to increasing the recognition of the environmental and social outcomes of agricultural practice and it is argued here that South Australia has the opportunity to value multifunctional land use more explicitly via innovative policy.

Type
Research Article
Information
Rural History , Volume 26 , Issue 1 , April 2015 , pp. 101 - 125
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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