Ecological Literacy - Agri-culture: Reconnecting People, Land and Nature - page 163

Using terms developed by Mikhail Bakhtin, they call this monolegic
masculinity, which 'mandates a specific definition of work and success' . But they
discovered the emergence of a dialegic masculinity amongst male farmers
who were engaged in sustainable agriculture as members of Practical
Farmers of Iowa (PFI). They expressed less need for control over nature,
were more socially open, were less likely to distinguish between men's and
women's roles on farms, and, importantly, were 'more open to talking about
making mistakes, to expressing emotions'.
Monolegic people are individuals who speak and act without acknow-
ledging others, while dialegec social actors take others into account.
Industrial farmers were more likely to celebrate long hours and hard work
in the form of an ascetic denial of food, relaxation and being with the
family. They were also more likely to have a so-called 'big iron' mentality:
a love of large machines, which, of course, ooze authority over the land.
Sustainable agriculture farmers without these worldviews needed the social
connections of being a member of PFI even more, as they often felt
isolated and excluded amongst conventional farmers. What this means,
in practice, is that farmers who were leaning towards sustainable practices
had become another 'sort' of farmer. 35
Social capital and the experimental capacity of farmers have been
developed by the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture in Latin
America in groups called Comité de Investigación Agrícultura Tropical
(CIAL). Two hundred and fifty groups have been set up in six countries,
developing their own individual pathways according to the motivations
and needs of farmers. These groups decide upon research topics, conduct
experiments and draw upon technical help from field technicians and
agricultural scientists. According to Ann Braun, members talk about being
'awakened about their continuous learning process, and losing their fear of speaking out
in public' . There have been many benefits for those involved, comprising
more experimentation, easier adoption of new ideas and improved food
security . Not only do farmers benefit from their experimental findings, they
also acquire increased status in the community at large. 36
Another example of these personal changes comes from central
Tamilnadu, where the Society for People's Education and Economic
Change (SPEECH) has carefully measured how their partner women's
self-help groups developed over a five-year period. Firstly, they found that
the incomes and savings of members had increased. More importantly,
they found that members' knowledge of banking, income generation,
common-property management, health and sanitation, and family planning
grew steadily over time. One-year-old groups had a good understanding
of income generation and the self-help concept, but less of other issues.
Young groups also tended to spend more time in meetings than more