The Rural Reconstruction Association (RRA) was a British

agricultural reform Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...

movement established in 1926 with

Montague Fordham Montague Edward Fordham (1864–1948) was an English agriculturalist and advocate of rural reform. He belonged to the Religious Society of Friends, and was a historian and barrister and by profession.P. Conford, 'Finance versus Farming: Rural Recon ...

as its Council Secretary, a post he held for 20 years.P. Conford, 'Finance versus Farming: Rural Reconstruction and Economic Reform 1894-1955', ''Rural History'', 2002, Vol.13 No.2, p. 229

History

Influenced by the ideas of

guild socialism Guild socialism is a political movement advocating workers' control of industry through the medium of trade-related guilds "in an implied contractual relationship with the public". It originated in the United Kingdom and was at its most influent ...

, the RRA sought for a time the creation of a National Agricultural Guild with land ownership held by land councils who would operate as local sections of the Guild.Peter Barberis, John McHugh, Mike Tyldesley, ''Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations'', 2002, p. 32 Its main consistent aims however were to revive

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

and to decentralise the population of Britain. It sought to standardise prices and produce grading, regulate imports and encourage more of a balance between agriculture and industry which, it argued, would benefit both sectors by ending over-reliance on manufacturing. As such, the Agricultural Marketing Act 1931, Wheat Act 1932 and Agricultural Marketing Act 1933, all of which moved towards

protectionism Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

in agriculture, were seen by the RRA as a vindication of their arguments. Their 1936 document ''The Revival of Agriculture'' attacked modern economics whilst praising what they saw as the more realistic approach of Elizabethan times, where financiers were servants of producers rather than masters. They argued that this system could be returned by controlling imports and so allowing domestic agricultural produce to reach a higher value. This would mean that banks would be more prepared to advance loans to farmers and would lead to the creation of a system of agricultural credit banks. A revived agricultural sector was also presented as being central to national well-being as it would encourage fresh organic produce. The group grew close to the Economic Reform Club and Institute (ECRI) in the 1940s and with the ECRI it produced, between 1944 and 1956, a journal dedicated to the reform of the

rural economy Rural economics is the study of rural economies. Rural economies include both agricultural and non-agricultural industries, so rural economics has broader concerns than agricultural economics which focus more on food systems. Rural developmen ...

edited by

Jorian Jenks Jorian Edward Forwood Jenks (1899 – 20 August 1963) was an English farmer, environmentalism pioneer and fascist. He has been described as "one of the most dominant figures in the development of the organic movement". Early life Born in Oxf ...

. Jenks' ''Rural Economy'' journal proved the focal point for

fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

sympathies within the movement as Jenks, a former member of the

British Union of Fascists The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a British fascist political party formed in 1932 by Oswald Mosley. Mosley changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists in 1936 and, in 1937, to the British Union. In 1939, fo ...

, was close to the

Union Movement The Union Movement (UM) was a far-right political party founded in the United Kingdom by Oswald Mosley. Before the Second World War, Mosley's British Union of Fascists (BUF) had wanted to concentrate trade within the British Empire, but the Unio ...

. The group enjoyed the support of some leading British figures as Sir George Stapledon and Lord Lymington were amongst the members of its board whilst

Lord O'Hagan Baron O'Hagan, of Tullahogue in the County of Tyrone, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 14 June 1870 for Sir Thomas O'Hagan, then Lord Chancellor of Ireland. His younger son, the third Baron, served as a Lor ...

served as President of the movement for a time.Agricultural Policy debates
from

Hansard ''Hansard'' is the traditional name of the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official print ...

References

{{Authority control Organizations established in 1926 Political advocacy groups in the United Kingdom Rural community development Organic farming organizations Organic farming in the United Kingdom History of agriculture in the United Kingdom Rural society in the United Kingdom 1926 establishments in the United Kingdom Agricultural organisations based in the United Kingdom