古罗马三部农业著作的史料价值问题

加图<农业志>、瓦罗<论农业>和科路美拉<论农业>是古罗马留给后世的完整的农业著作.作为研究古代西方农业经济的第一手资料,这三部农书弥足珍贵.但这三部农书所记述的内容有限,尤其加图<农业志>只是农事指南性质的书,近现代学者研究古代经济摘引该书的频率极高,不乏对其史料价值的拔高.至于瓦罗和科路美拉的著作,无疑是体现了古代西方农学的成就,其史料价值不容低估.科路美拉的作品超出瓦罗的作品,不仅在农学本身,更重要的在于社会经济史价值.     

The changing status of higher education in the ‘moronic inferno’

Getting a good and relevant education is difficult enough to achieve within a context where social and economic needs are constantly unsettled by political policy. The public funding of the education sector has become a contested arena irrespective of a government’s ideology. Recent graduates from various disciplines from Town Planning to Philosophy report in university destination surveys that they have only found employment in areas unrelated to their academic training – for instance, in supermarkets, restaurants and other low-level service industries. How has it happened that the universalisation of mass higher education has contributed to a disconnect between the individual’s social aspirations and their economic status? What happened to the tacit promise that an extended period of intellectual development would prepare the individual for a life of valuable social contribution and financial security? Part of the answer lies in the success of higher education itself. Its popularity has changed its transformative capacity and allowed operational efficiencies to overrule academic quality. The university, ideally seen as a repository of intellectual intuition, has been remade into yet another modern corporation concerned with the bottom line and financial security. Why has it been necessary to remake the university in the image of the department store, supermarket or bank, and how has it been achieved without more critique?     

交易成本、生产成本与农业生产环节外包——基于农地禀赋效应调节视角

农业生产环节外包是实现农业规模经济的重要途径。依据山东、河南2省6市小麦种植户调研数据,运用结构方程模型实证分析农户农地禀赋效应调节视角下外包交易成本、农业隐性生产成本对农业生产环节外包程度的影响。研究结论如下：①市场容量、资产专用性、交易不确定性和交易频率是外包交易成本的重要表现。市场容量的扩大可以降低单位面积外包交易成本,促进农业生产环节外包程度的提升;资产专用性、交易不确定性和交易频率的增强会增加外包交易成本,阻碍农业生产环节外包程度的提升。②农业生产经营风险和农业劳动机会成本是隐性生产成本的重要体现,二者均会促进农业生产环节外包程度的提升。③外包交易成本、隐性生产成本对农业生产环节外包程度的影响会受到农户农地禀赋效应的调节。在外包交易成本方面,农户农地禀赋效应会削弱市场容量对农业生产环节外包程度的促进作用,增强资产专用性和交易不确定性对农业生产环节外包程度的阻碍作用;在隐性生产成本方面,农户农地禀赋效应会增强农业生产经营风险对农业生产环节外包程度的促进作用,削弱农业劳动机会成本对农业生产环节外包程度的促进作用。④农业外包市场并不仅是一个简单的交易市场,而且是一个具有身份特征的情感市场。培育农业外包市场,需充分考虑和尊重农户的农地禀赋效应。     

乡村振兴背景下耕读教育的时代意蕴及其实施路径

乡村振兴的关键在于乡村教育的振兴。城镇化浪潮下的乡村教育面临诸多困境:教学内容缺乏乡土元素,乡村学生与乡村生活渐行渐远;新生代乡村教师乡土情怀淡漠,乡土资源与学校教育日益疏远;学校管理模式城市化,乡村学校与乡村社会明显隔膜。传统耕读教育在新时期具有多重意蕴:劳动教育功能,创新劳动教育的理念与实践;全面育人功能,五育并举促进学生全面发展;多方联动力量,连通古今联动家庭学校社会。新时代乡村振兴进程中发挥耕读教育作用的路径:深入开发地方课程、校本课程中的耕读教学元素;搭建多层次、多形式的耕读教育实践基地;因地制宜创建生动、活泼的耕读校园文化。     

重新释读“代田法”

"代田法"是汉武帝末年开始施行的一种农田"垄作"体系。目前学界对"代田法"的研究多集中在耕作技术层面,鲜有关注代田法与汉匈军事斗争的联系。在西汉武帝时期,西汉政府与北方匈奴的军事斗争势态,对"代田法"的产生原因、推行时间及选种植物三个方面产生了影响。基于对这种关系的考察以及对西汉历史背景的分析,试图对"代田法"这一古老的农耕技术做出新解读。     

西汉“盐铁会议”论争中的农本原则及汉代社会的农本观念

汉代《盐铁论》集中了西汉晚期中央政府和民间两派对武帝时期商业统制等经济政策利弊的争论,这些争论充分反映了汉代中央和民间两派在农商本末、经济干预与放任等政策问题上的显著分歧。但值得注意的是在争论所表现的表面分歧之下,汉代中央政府和民间两派实质上却都秉持了农本的价值原则,《盐铁论》也集中反映了汉代社会丰富的农本思想、观念。汉代社会的农本原则为历代所延续,成为国家进行商业政策调整的基本尺度,从而维持了中国封建社会经济农商结合,商业为辅的基本经济格局。     

节俗文化研究

源远流长的中华文化,滋润了东方沃土,缔造了无以伦比的华夏文明。我国史称礼仪之邦,节俗文化是制度文化的重要表征,一年百节,传统节日无论源自何时、何地、何事,在历史的发展中都向多元文化演进,并以此构建了丰富多彩的民族文化,从而达到民族的文化认同,增强民族凝聚力。     

Local Farmers' Organisations: A Space for Peer-to-Peer Learning? The Case of Milk Collection Cooperatives in Morocco

Abstract

Purpose: The study investigated to what extent local farmers' organisations are spaces where farmers discuss, learn and innovate.

Design/methodology/approach: Two milk collection cooperatives in Morocco were studied. The study analysed the discussion networks, their impacts on farmers' knowledge and innovation, and the performance of collective action at cooperative level.

Findings: In both cooperatives, only two-thirds of the farmers regularly discussed dairy practices with other farmers. Most leaders of one cooperative were acknowledged to be experienced farmers and played key roles as advisors on dairy farming. Farmers' involvement in dialogue networks in this cooperative improved their capacity to innovate in dairy farming, even though their knowledge on some issues related to cattle, health and nutrition was not improved. In the other cooperative, experienced farmers did not share their knowledge and farmers' involvement in dialogue networks at cooperative level had no impact on their knowledge and practices. Dialogue networks and collective action were found to influence each other, since in the first cooperative, collective action was considered by members to be efficient, whereas in the second collective action was limited to milk collection.

Practical implications: The study enabled identification of stumbling blocks which need to be addressed to get local farmers’ organisations involved in farmer capacity-building.

Originality/value: While the importance of local discussion networks for knowledge creation and diffusion is widely acknowledged, taking such networks into account in farmers' capacity-building programmes in developing countries has been hindered by their informality. Combining the analysis of dialogue networks and collective action proved to be a productive way to assess the potentialities of working with farmers' organisations with the aim of establishing a connection with local discussion networks.     

Open-ended Cases in Agroecology: Farming and Food Systems in the Nordic Region and the US Midwest

Abstract

Our aim is to describe open-ended case studies for learning real-life problem solving skills, and relate this approach to conventional, closed-ended decision case studies. Teaching methods are open-ended cases in agroecology, an alternative to traditional strategies that lead students through prepared materials and structured discussions to determine an outcome already known to the instructor. Our method promotes a culture of curiosity. Multiple evaluation criteria show how this learning strategy provides students with practice in researching, envisioning and designing potential scenarios for clients in the field. In agroecology case studies, students and instructors are co-learners in a discovery process that includes gathering information from key clients, interviewing major stakeholders, and building an understanding of the current context of the local farming and food systems. Two agroecology courses in Norway, a field course in the US Midwest, and an experimental course in Sweden and Vietnam illustrate this learning strategy. Student evaluations of learning have been highly positive, and skills and methods from courses have been applied in their thesis projects and professional careers.

Practical results reveal that students are well prepared for an uncertain, complex, multi-dimensional and dynamic future, have the capacity to develop alternative future scenarios, and have practiced methods to evaluate options based on production, economic, environmental and social criteria and impacts. This innovative strategy is offered as a complement or alternative to conventional decision case studies and evaluated as an approach to experiential learning, an important and effective method for adult learners.     

Learning about agriculture within the framework of education for sustainability

The last two decades have seen increased threats to agricultural landscapes in Israel. Key factors include population growth, strong pressure from construction entrepreneurs and possible profit to land owners who benefit from a legal conversion of farmland into lands allocated for construction. While each Israeli elementary school student used to participate in agriculture classes, most students no longer experience this and their overall exposure to farming in schools is limited. The main objective of this study was to explore the ways farming is presented and addressed in the national curriculum and in learning materials. Additionally, it examines the actual status of teaching about agriculture and explores how farming is addressed in teachers' pre‐service programmes. The main finding is that very little teaching about agriculture and land management is carried out at most school levels. Only one college prepares agriculture teachers and science education programmes rarely address agriculture as a course topic. The paper also outlines an education for sustainability framework for integrating science, agriculture and environmental education.