Rural and Regional Sociology
Research Area
The field of rural sociology is dedicated to examining social, cultural, and structural transformations in rural areas. Key thematic areas include studies on (agro-)food and regional and rural development. Our research primarily takes place within interdisciplinary projects, and the findings contribute to the content of courses in the Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, the Master of Arts in Environmental Management of Mountain Areas (EMMA), and the Doctoral Program in Tourism and Leisure in Mountain Regions (TLMR).
Agricultural and food system
Regional developments
The working group affiliated with the interfaculty research centers Mountain Agriculture Research Unit and the Research Center for Tourism and Recreation. These centers are integral components of the university's research focus ‘Mountain Areas’.
Projects
Zukunftskolleg FWF: Exploring values-based modes of production and consumption in the corporate food regime (2021 - 2025)
The current agricultural and food system is dominated by transnational corporations that are based on competition, economic growth and the maximization of profits. This corporate food regime is contested by social movements and producers, which are often locally based and aim for a more sustainable production based on values such as solidarity or trust. In our research project, we focus on those small- and mid-scale initiatives that we understand as values-based modes of production and consumption. Our two concrete examples are community supported agriculture (CSA) and regional food chains. We are interested in the question to what extend these small- and mid-scale bottom-up initiatives have the potential to change the corporate food regime (i.e. the dominant value chains in food production).
Our key aim is to analyze small- and mid-scale initiatives and how they work to change corporate power and the state in relation to the corporate food regime.
- The project develops a common theoretical framework how to understand these values-based initiatives combining, and thus refining food regime theory with other theoretical approaches that encompass state theory, social capital and territoriality. This allows us to examine the initiatives on a local scale but at the same time embeds them in the broader national and global debate.
- We further develop a methodological toolkit of how to study these initiatives and their incorporated values.
- We examine cases of CSA and regional food chains in Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Argentina.
- The project monitors and evaluates the research process including reflections on mutual learning within the interdisciplinary research team.
Research team:
Chrisitina Plank (BOKU, Institute of Social Ecology)
Rike Stotten (Uibk, Institute of Sociology)
Robert Hafner (Uibk, Institute of Geography)
Project budget:
Overall: € 1.203.438,92
Uibk Sociology: € 400.604,82
Website: https://foodalternatives.at/
Publications:
- Plank, Christina; Hafner, Robert; Stotten, Rike (2020): Analyzing values-based modes of production andconsumption: Community-supported agriculture in the Austrian Third Food Regime. In: Österreichische Zeitschrift für Soziologie, Vol. 45, pages 49–68.
- Plank, Christina; Hafner, Robert; Stotten, Rike (2020): Wertebasierte Produktions- und Konsumweisen im WTO-zentrierten Nahrungsregime. Fragestellungen eines Zukunftskolleg-Projekts. In: Jahrbuch für Geschichte des ländlichen Raumes, Band 17, S. 185–194.
Contact: Ass. Prof. Rike Stotten
SYNAGRI: Developing synergies between the bioeconomy and regional food systems for a sustainable future (2021 - 2024)
Bioeconomy promises a more sustainable society through a shift from processing non-renewable mineral resources to renewable bioresources. This project tries to assess the consequences for agriculture. Concerns have been raised that the future bioeconomy will place farmers at the bottom of value chains as suppliers of low-value biomass for processing and conversion. Moreover, the bioeconomy may be a serious competitor to established food systems.
The aim of SYNAGRI is to understand the capacity for integration between an emerging bioeconomy and regional food systems, and develop strategies to promote an integrated, sustainable food system. The project will contribute to theoretical developments in systems thinking, understand how food systems can be transformed through integration and its implications for social, environmental, and economic sustainability.
The project was commissioned by the Norwegian Research council and is coordinated by Ruralis, the Institute of Rural and Regional Research in Trondheim, Norway. The main outcome will be to advance a systems perspective on Norwegian food systems and assist Norway in identifying prospects for value creation through food system-bioeconomy integration. Our part at the Univeristy of Innsbruck is to provide a case study from Tyrol looking into the (potential) connections between traditional foods and the bioeconomy in the cases of “Bergkäse” and “Speck”
Website: https://ruralis.no/en/projects/synagri-developing-synergies-between-the-bioeconomy-and-regional-food-systems-for-a-sustainable-future/
Media & Videos
- Faculty of Social and Political Sciences "Schermer uibk research spotlight"
- Corona Dossier -„Regionalisierung: Mythos und Realität“
- Schrödingers Katze -Autark: Die essbare Stadt
- ORF III Kultur und Information - Quantensprung Videobeitrag zum downloaden
- ORF III - „Quantensprung“ über Landwirtschaft und Superpflanzen, „Frühling auf der Alm“ in „Heimat Österreich“
- Radio freirad -Stream „Milchmärchen Tirol“
- Kuh- und fürze - Abfall, Kuhfürze und Flugobst sorgen für CO2
- STELLA - Bewirtschaftete Almen als Klimahelfer
- Magazin für TirolerInnen - 3 Fragen an Rike Stotten.
- Radio Freirad - Verein Freies Radio Innsbruck : Alles Ischgl oder uff?
Teaching at the University of Innsbruck
Bachelor's program of Sociology (teaching language German)
Module 12: Agricultural and regional sociology (10 ECTS-AP, 4 SSt.)
VO Agricultural and Regional Sociology
SE Agricultural and Regional Sociology
Module 15: Selected Topics in Sociology (15 ECTS-Credits, 6 semesters)
VU Selected Topics of Sociology: Agro-Food Studies
VU Selected Topics of Sociology: Regional Sociology
Environmental Management of Mountain Areas (EMMA)
VU Selected Chapters in Environmental Management I: Sustainable Regional Development
VU Selected Chapters in Environmental Management II: Agrifood Studies
The Team
Stotten, Rike, Assoz. Prof. Dr.; Deputy Spokesperson of the Mountain Agriculture Research Centre
Rike Stotten is associate professor at the Institute of Sociology and head of the working group Rural Sociology. Her research focuses thematically on Rural Sociology and Agro-Food Studies and spatially on mountain areas. Here, she is interested in the manifold relationships and interconnections between urban and rural areas, production and consumption, as well as the underlying processes, structures and power relations. She is spokesperson of the Rural Sociology Section of the Austrian Sociological Association and deputy spokesperson of the Mountain Agriculture Research Unit at the University of Innsbruck.
She studied geography and sociology at the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Universität Aachen and graduated with a master's thesis on the acceptance of nature conservation measures at the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture in Switzerland. She worked as a research assistant at the Institute for Spatial and Landscape Development at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich and at the Competence Centre for Urban and Regional Development at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. She obtained her habilitation in 2023 with her work on 'European Mountain Areas as Socioscapes: An Integrative Perspective in Rural Sociology'.
E-mail: Rike.Stotten@uibk.ac.at
Link: i-point
Publikationen
Tel.: +43 512 507-73425
Room: w 2.07
Univ.-Prof. i. R. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Markus Schermer
Markus Schermer graduated in agricultural economics from the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences in Vienna in 1983. From 1984 - 1999 he worked in development cooperation, agricultural extension and spatial planning outside the university. Since 1999 he has been working at the University of Innsbruck, where he completed his dissertation at the Institute of Sociology in 2004. This was followed in 2008 by his habilitation in sociology. From 2008-2010 he served as Institute Director at the Institute of Sociology, until 2020 he was Deputy Institute Director. From 2010-2014 he acted as a study officer. He was also head of the Mountain Agriculture Research Centre from 2005 to 2008 and has been deputy head since then. He officially retired in fall 2022.
His research focuses on the following areas: Social developments in food production and consumption; Territorial approaches to regional development; Changes in the cultural landscape in mountain areas; The position of farmers in society.
E-Mail: Markus.Schermer@uibk.ac.at
Publications
Tel.: +43 512 507-73413
Room: w 2.18
Mag. Dr. Nora Katharina Faltmann
With a background in development studies, Nora Katharina Faltmann works on social science perspectives on food and agriculture. Her PhD focused on food safety and social inequality in Vietnam. Since October 2022 she works as a postdoctoral researcher in the project 'Exploring values-based modes of production and consumption in the corporate food regime' in which she researches alternative food initiatives across rural mountain and urban areas in Switzerland. A further research focus lies on the construction of animals-as-food at the intersection of food studies and human-animal relations.
E-Mail: Nora.Faltmann@uibk.ac.at
Tel.: +43 512 507 73422
Room: w 2.24
Dr. Thea Wiesli
Thea Xenia Wiesli has been employed as a Postdoc at the Institute of Sociology since 2023. Her research interests lie thematically in the fields of Sustainable Development, food studies, meat consumption, animal-human relations, and regional sociology. In her PhD, she investigated the connection between sustainability and high quality of life in rural regions and in nature parks. In other research projects at the Centre for Development and Environment of the University of Bern, she worked on resettlement of mountain villages, food policies and food justice.
E-Mail: Thea.Wiesli@uibk.at.at
Tel.: +43 512 507 73439
Room: w 2.24
Paul Froning, M.Sc
Paul Froning completed his Master's degree in the international Environmental Management of Mountain Areas program with a focus on regional development and mountain agriculture at the Universities of Innsbruck and Bolzano in 2023. In his master's thesis, he focused on territorial development strategies based on organic farming in Valposchiavo, Switzerland. Currently, he is employed as a research assistant in the project 'Exploring values-based modes of production and consumption in the corporate food regime'.
E-Mail: Paul.Froning@uibk.ac.at
Room: w 2.18
Jacqueline Feurstein, BA
Jacqueline Feurstein graduated with a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Innsbruck and is a student assistant at the Institute of Sociology. As part of the project "Exploring values-based modes of production and consumption in the corporate food regime", she is writing her Master's thesis in the field of agricultural and regional sociology.
E-Mail: Jacqueline.Feurstein@uibk.ac.at
Room: w 2.18