ABSTRACT
The restructuring of the farm sector during the 1980s reverberated through rural society. This chapter assesses the common portrayals of farmers' activism by examining patterns of voluntary organizational membership and political participation as well as their correlates. It describes farmers' experiences of crisis and change in farm, family, and community, and discusses how these experiences may be related to membership and participation. Farm change obviously is intertwined closely with household wellbeing and adaptations, particularly insofar as a household depends on farming for its livelihood. Data from the North Central Regional Farm Survey is used to address several issues. The chapter focuses on the characteristics of two groups of farmers who became particularly visible during the 1980s: those who engaged in protest and farm political action, and those involved in farm women's organizations, reflecting the growing autonomy of that segment of the farm population.
