| Summary: | Vermont, like many rural places in the developed world, has been the destination of many urban migrants seeking lifestyle amenities unavailable in the city. This migration has been blamed for intractable conflicts over land use governance, with newcomers pitted against long-time residents on such issues as wilderness designation, agricultural impacts and motorized recreation. How accurate, though, are these representations of political visions polarized along lines of residential status?
This dissertation maps out the complexity of popular outlooks on land use governance in Vermont using a Q-method survey and semi-structured interviews. Analysis of the survey found evidence for two distinct perspectives on land use governance, which were termed Green Governance and Government Scepticism. While distinct, these perspectives were not diametrically opposed; on many issues of concern to one group the other group was neutral. These groups did not map directly onto residential status; in particular, long-time residents were clearly evident in both groups. Looking deeper into the stances on land use, tensions between stances are evident at both the level of the group and the individual. The dissertation traces these tensions and considers their implications for how individuals are enrolled in larger political projects such as neoliberalism. In many cases, uncertain enrolment suggests places where groups could productively engage each other and develop less antagonistic relationships.
The dissertation fits the political orientations it examines into a broader cultural reading of social divisions that goes beyond residential status. It posits the existence of cultural complexes with an array of components contributing to social identity. These components – which include residential status and political orientation – influence each other without being determining. Compared with more established moral economy frameworks, this model seeks to provide a more flexible theorization of the relationship between social identity and political outlook.
|
|---|
