[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

Re: sustainable Southern agrarianism



Lance & Saneters:

Several years ago, when I discovered the writings of the Southern 
Agrarians, I came to the quick conclusion that many of their views on the 
industrialization of agriculture would certainly find sympathy among 
today's sustainable agriculture adherents.  How much contribution their 
thinking made to modern sustainable ag thought may be questioned, since 
their work seems little known among agriculturists from what I have seen.

So far, I have not run across any literature linking the Agrarians with the 
modern sustainable agriculture movement.

The closest thing I have seen is in the preface to Andrew Nelson Lytle's
_A Wake for the Living_.  For Saneters unfamiliar with the Agrarians, Lytle 
was the last of the original Southern Agrarians, and passed away just last 
year.  Written by Madison Smartt Bell, the preface mentions Wendell Berry:  

        "In this respect, Lytle's agrarianism is most similar to that 
unfolded by Wendell Berry in _The Unsettling of America_.  This latter work 
shows among other things how all the disasters predicted by the Agrarians 
of the 1930s have been fulfilled beyond their worst and wildest 
imaginings."

Out of curiosity, are you subscribed to the H-South or H-Rural listservs? 
(Southern and Rural History).  You might want to post your question there.  

************************************************************** 
* Tim Baker                   Phone: 573-888-4722            * 
* Horticulture Specialist       Fax: 573-888-6829            * 
* University of MO Extension                                 * 
* P.O. Box 160             Internet: bakert@ext.missouri.edu * 
* Kennett, MO 63857                                          * 
**************************************************************



_____________________________ Reply Separator _______________________________ 
Subject: sustainable Southern agrarianism
Author:  Lance Howard <lanceh@clemson.edu> at internet-ext 
Date:    12/17/96 1:45 PM


Dear Saneters,

I am looking for literature that links contemporary ideas and practices of 
sustainable agriculture in the South to the ideas of the Southern Agrarians 
(_I'll Take My Stand_, 1930), and/or other evocations of the South as an 
agrarian alternative to the industrial North.  So far I find only Wendell 
Berry, who does not, from what I have read, ever acknowledge the Southern 
Agrarians.

I am preparing an undergraduate seminar on the geography of the South.

Any help will be much appreciated.

Lance

Lance F. Howard
Department of History and Geography
Clemson University
Clemson, SC 29634
(864) 656-5359 (office)
(864) 656-1015 (fax)
lanceh@clemson.edu