A Sociology of Place in Australia

​‘Baker has written a closely observed and perceptive study of profound transformations in rural Australia since World War Two as soldier settler family farms have been replaced by capital-intensive agribusinesses. She explores the dynamic interplay between state policy and lived experience, showing that, in the final analysis, it is the state that calls the shots.’—Emeritus Professor Judith Brett, La Trobe University
‘Baker presents a vivid and original account of land, livelihood, and loss in rural Australia, working in the tradition of Karl Polanyi to trace intricate connections between sociohistorical transformations, shifting state policies, and the changing rhythms of everyday life.’—Professor Jamie Peck, University of British Columbia ‘A thoughtfully crafted and perceptively argued exposé of life on the land, Baker’s book blends personal insights and socio-historical events in tracing Indigenous dispossession, soldier settlement, family farming, and government policy in the making of rural Australia. The author is to be congratulated for delivering a fascinating and provocative account of agrarian transformation—one making a major contribution to rural sociology and the sociology of place.’—Emeritus Professor Geoffrey Lawrence, University of Queensland ‘Baker has written a beautiful study of place that illuminates the complex configurations of people and landscape in rural Australia. It’s intellectually profound analysis of the social construction of rural land use is informed by deep and heartfelt narratives of people’s everyday realities. Their voices are the vines that stretch across the latticework of her theory. This is a book that both informs and delights.’—Professor Bill Pritchard, University of Sydney ‘A tour de force. Anyone who wants to understand the “tragic separation between the City and the Land” in contemporary Australia should read Baker’s beautifully told economic and social history.’—Emeritus Professor Michael Pusey, FASSA, University of New South Wales