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A conceptual model for understanding social practices in family forestry

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Abstract

This paper presents a conceptual model for better understanding of the various aspects or phenomena in family forestry. In this model, land is considered as the basic resource around which work and family life are organised. With the land follows specific property rights, giving the children, as a result of marriage, the right to inheritance. To generate revenue from the capital invested or to increase the value of the property, self-employment in practical work and decision-making is needed. Taxes are charged on the revenue of the property. Gender has an impact on inheritance position, division of work, and pattern of marriage. By connecting these institutions or concepts to each other with threads of social practices, a ‘cobweb model’ is developed which allows the structure of the social reality in family forestry to be visualised. The cobweb model has been applied in order to examine social practices in contemporary Swedish family forestry. Results based on a nationwide survey, reveal significant differences between different forest owner categories regarding the impact of gender, inheritance, marriage, property rights and self-employment. Furthermore, the analytical potential of the model is demonstrated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Silviculture, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, S-901 83, Umeå, Sweden

    Gun Lidestav & Tomas Nordfjell

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  1. Gun Lidestav
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  2. Tomas Nordfjell
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Lidestav, G., Nordfjell, T. A conceptual model for understanding social practices in family forestry. Small-scale Forestry 4, 391–408 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11842-005-0024-7

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