Leaving from urban, integrating into rural? Examining urban-rural dialectical relationships through livelihoods and everyday life of the back-to-the-land farmers in Taiwan.

This research explores Taiwan''s “back-to-the-land” phenomenon. Keith Halfacree’s definition of ‘back-to-the-land’ farmers designate those who had no farming background decide to move to rural areas and become full-time farmers. Three research questions are investigated including: 1) why and how these back-to-the-land farmers move to rural areas and become farmers; 2) what their livelihood networks are like, how they form these networks, wherein ideal lifestyle and practical living demands are balanced; 3) what ‘back-to-the-land’ means given ‘the era of mobilities’ that characterizes Taiwan society as a whole. Through interviewing 26 back-to-the-land farmers, the research argues: 1) Taiwan’s back-to-the-landers shows a “contingent” experience for the farmers; 2) famers’ urban social capitals are important to form livelihood network during initial stage of their farming trade; 3) given the era of mobilities, new identity of home is found to explain new meanings of ‘back-to-the-land’ and counterurbanization. The research contributes to literatures of ‘back-to-the-land’ in both Taiwan’s and western rural studies.