Agricultural History Review, Volume 69 Part 1 (2021), pp. 111–131

Using the framework of Tim Ingold’s concept of ‘taskscape’, this article seeks to address the role of work in shaping the dynamics of rural community in the mid-twentieth century. We do this by examining oral histories of two communities which have important points of similarity and difference: the community farming on the small, mixed farms of Lower Wharfedale, on the border between North and West Yorkshire, and the workers and farmers cultivating the large-scale arable enterprises of the East Riding of Yorkshire Wolds. We argue that the form of agricultural work which took place in these localities during the mid-twentieth century was crucial in setting up the types of work relationships which characterized the different communities there. Localized differences manifested in several ways through the unique taskscapes of the two case studies: a deeply stratified community structure versus pseudo-familial employment relationships; proletarian village communities versus close farmer-employee relationships; and mobility versus stability. 

Complete Volume PDF