The Distance from Necessity: a Bourdieusian Analysis of Gathering Practices in Vermont Alan Robert Pierce Antioch University - New England
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Antioch University AURA - Antioch University Repository and Archive Student & Alumni Scholarship, including Dissertations & Theses Dissertations & Theses 2014 The Distance from Necessity: A Bourdieusian Analysis of Gathering Practices in Vermont Alan Robert Pierce Antioch University - New England Follow this and additional works at: http://aura.antioch.edu/etds Part of the Other Forestry and Forest Sciences Commons, and the Place and Environment Commons Recommended Citation Pierce, Alan Robert, "The Distance from Necessity: A Bourdieusian Analysis of Gathering Practices in Vermont" (2014). Dissertations & Theses. 73. http://aura.antioch.edu/etds/73 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student & Alumni Scholarship, including Dissertations & Theses at AURA - Antioch University Repository and Archive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations & Theses by an authorized administrator of AURA - Antioch University Repository and Archive. 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Department of Environmental Studies DISSERTATION COMMITTEE PAGE The undersigned have examined the dissertation entitled: THE DISTANCE FROM NECESSITY: A BOURDIEUSIAN ANALYSIS OF GATHERING PRACTICES IN VERMONT presented by Alan Robert Pierce, candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, and hereby certify that it is accepted.* Alesia Maltz, Ph.D. (Core Faculty, Antioch University New England) James Jordan, Ph.D. (Core Faculty, Antioch University New England) Marla Emery, Ph.D. (Research Geographer, United States Forest Service and University of Vermont) Defense Date: December 7, 2013 Date Approved by all committee members: December 7, 2013 Date Submitted to the Registrar’s Office: January 14, 2014 *Signatures are on file with the Registrar’s Office at Antioch University New England THE DISTANCE FROM NECESSITY: A BOURDIEUSIAN ANALYSIS OF GATHERING PRACTICES IN VERMONT By Alan Robert Pierce A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Environmental Studies at Antioch University New England 2014 © Copyright by Alan R. Pierce 2014 All Rights Reserved Acknowledgements I thank my committee members for their steadfast support and encouragement. I am particularly grateful to my advisor, Alesia Maltz, for her kindness, patience, and fierce insistence that I finish my dissertation and not let my research fall through the cracks. I thank Marla Emery for our past collaborations, her suggestion to use Bourdieu as a theorist, and her willingness to act as a sounding board for my ideas over the years. I thank Jim Jordan for his probing questions, careful reading of my text, and thoughtful comments. To Trish Shanley, thank you for championing my earlier work and taking the time to provide such insightful comments on my latest project. I thank Emily Stanley for sharing recipes, wild edibles, and journal articles, and for her incisive comments on my draft chapters. Eric Jones provided very helpful feedback on my results section, as well as some much- appreciated dried morels, porcinis, and candy caps. To my interviewees, I extend my heartfelt appreciation for inviting me into your homes and graciously sharing your knowledge and time with me. I am most grateful to Jamison Ervin for her unwavering support, her deep reserves of patience, her perspicacious comments on my work, and her computer wizardry. I would not have finished this work without you. And to Lincoln, thank you for putting up with a distracted father for so many years. i The Distance from necessity: A Bourdieusian analysis of gathering practices in Vermont Abstract This study examines why contemporary Americans continue to gather wild plants and fungi. Vermont, a state with a rich history of gathering, serves as a study site. I interviewed twenty-four gatherers using ethnographic methods. I applied a Bourdieusian framework to analyze the differences between gathering practices as they related to gathering knowledge, views of nature, and uses of gathered products. The interviews indicated that gathering is important to the physical and mental well-being of its practitioners and instills a connection to nature as well as to place. Interviewees cited spending time in nature and enjoyment of engaging the senses as the primary reasons for gathering. Other reasons identified included strengthening social bonds, obtaining food, medicine or income, and enjoying the “treasure hunt” aspect of gathering. Differences in gathering practices are attributable to habitus and background. Interviewees from agrarian backgrounds primarily learned their gathering skills from friends or relatives, rarely used scientific names of plants or fungi, often equated gathering with work, and tended to view gathered products as economic capital. By contrast, interviewees from suburban and urban backgrounds mostly learned their gathering skills through classes or books, exhibited greater familiarity with scientific names of species, saw gathering as a leisure activity, and were more apt to use gathered products as social and symbolic capital. Vermont is transitioning from an agrarian-based economy to a mixed-economy, and in the process, the working landscape is being replaced by a landscape of leisure. Gathering as an agrarian practice is being supplanted by gathering as an epicurean-oriented practice, and heralds a subtle shift in human-nature interactions. Policy makers need to account for such shifts and demonstrate greater nuance in regulating gathering, particularly non-commercial gathering. My research also suggests that trends to professionalize gathering are on the rise, a finding that could result in the exclusion of gatherers from resources or markets. Keywords: Gathering, non-timber forest products (NTFPs), Bourdieu, practice, capital, Vermont ii Contents Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... i Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ ii List of Tables .............................................................................................................................. vi List of Figures ............................................................................................................................. vi Prologue: A wintry Saturday morning in Vermont ...................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................ 4 Background .............................................................................................................................. 4 Research questions ................................................................................................................... 9 Why Vermont? ....................................................................................................................... 12 Relevance ............................................................................................................................... 15 Chapter 2: Gathering in the modern world – A literature review .............................................. 18 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 18 Early years of the non-timber forest product literature .......................................................... 19 Scope of the non-timber forest product literature .................................................................. 20 Methods and analyses used by NTFP scholar ........................................................................ 25 Frameworks to describe the persistence of NTFP gathering in developed countries ............ 27 The diverse economies literature ........................................................................................... 28 Frameworks to explain non-economic dimensions of gathering ........................................... 30 Bourdieu and Foucault ........................................................................................................... 34 Summary ................................................................................................................................ 38 Chapter 3: Methods .................................................................................................................... 40 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 40 Sampling ................................................................................................................................ 41 Field methods ......................................................................................................................... 43 Field Notes ............................................................................................................................. 46 Data analysis .......................................................................................................................... 46 Authenticity and ethical concerns .......................................................................................... 49 Study limitations ...................................................................................................................