Enterprising livelihoods in rural households: new and old ways of working

Project Leader: Sue Baines
Sponsors: ESRC
Partners: Project Partners: Jane Wheelock (Principal Investigator) School of Geography, Politics and Sociology, University of Newcastle. Elizabeth Oughton, Lecturer, Department of Geography, University of Durham

Livelihoods are increasingly likely to be pursued outside large organisations and growth of micro-businesses and self-employment has been especially strong in rural areas. Yet the lives and livelihoods of individuals and households dependent on forms of small enterprise have been largely overlooked in academic and policy agenda to promote more new businesses. Focusing on the rural micro-business household and its networks, this project investigated the internal and external dynamics (including gender and power relations) as households create new forms of livelihood and arguably recreate old ways of working. It formed a basis for comparison with earlier research on urban micro-businesses in the UK and with a recent study of rural micro-businesses in Norway.

Project Publications Include:

Wheelock, J, Oughton, E and Baines, S (2003), 'Getting by with a little help from your family: toward a policy-relevant model of the household', Feminist Economics, 9(1): 19-45.
Oughton, E, Wheelock, J and Baines,S (2003), 'Micro-businesses and social inclusion in rural households: a comparative analysis', Sociologica Ruralis, 43(4): 331-348.
Baines, S, Wheelock, J, Oughton, E, Ljunggren, E, Pettersen, L and Magnussen, T (2003), 'Work and employment in rural, non-farming micro-businesses: a return to old ways of working?', pp. in Andersson, K, Eklund, E, Granberg, L and Marsden, T (eds.) Rural Development as Policy and Practice. Helsinki, Finland: Swedish School of Social Science, University of Helsinki.
Baines, S, Wheelock, J and Oughton (2002), 'A household based approach to the small business family', pp. 168-179 in D. Fletcher (eds.) Understanding the Small Family Business. London: Routledge.