Article
Changing paradigms? Rural communities, agriculture, and corporate and civic models of development in Atlantic Canada
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine a model of corporate and civic communities as it relates to change in rural Atlantic Canada. The aim is to frame questions elevant to what appears tobe a situation of changing paradigms. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is largely conceptual. An exploration of Lyson’s model of corporate and civic communities, review of selected Atlantic Canada historiography, and preliminary findings of a research consultation offer understanding of the historical and changing
paradigmatic terrain of rural communities and agriculture in Atlantic Canada. Selected issues, emerging from the literature as well as from a series of consultations held with farmers, rural non-profits, policy makers, businesses, agricultural groups and others, are examined in the context of the region’s past and the corporate and civic models outlined by Lyson. Atlantic historiography is discussed in view of contemporary challenges, and questions relevant to change in the region are raised and framed.