Being Neighbours

Drawing on the writing of over one hundred diarists, this book takes us into the heart of informal neighbourhood labour exchanges known as “bees” and the context of farm families’ daily lives in Southern Ontario. It sheds light on the workways of rural people and on how neighbouring was a dynamic and progressive aspect of agricultural change, as well as a key element in fashioning rural culture.

Catharine Anne Wilson, FRSC, is the Francis and Ruth Redelmeier Professor in Rural History at the University of Guelph and founder and director of the Rural Diary Archive website.Catharine Anne Wilson, FRSC, is Francis and Ruth Redelmeier Professor in Rural History at the University of Guelph and founder, director of the Rural Diary Archive website, and the author of Tenants in Time: Family Strategies, Land, and Liberalism in Upper Canada, 1799-1871.

“[Being Neighbours] explores bees’ economic and social significance, ground rules and aberrations, moral and technological dimensions. It skillfully situates the story within broader literature on rural order, dispute resolution and cooperative labour. Engaging writing and plentiful photographs add to the appeal of this groundbreaking Work.” Champlain Society Floyd S. Chalmers Award jury

“This deeply researched and well-documented book skillfully reflects on rural farm life and the concept of a neighborhood. Wilson’s expertise is evident as she maintains a connection to the individual people within the network even as she examines the larger context of cooperative work, rural life, and neighborhood. …[T]hough the diaries used are specific to rural Ontario, the themes, struggles, and successes postulated by Wilson will resonate with readers across North America interested in historical rural culture. This is a great read for those interested in cooperative work, rural life, and the concept of neighborhoods.” H-Net Reviews

“Catharine Wilson renders visible the social bonds of neighbouring and the complexity of rural life. Her in-depth examination allows a greater understanding of the inherent tensions in these work arrangements and the neighbourhoods that sustained them, dismantling some of the romantic glow of rural culture in a ‘simpler time.’ One of the most important works on rural culture in many years.” Joe Anderson, Mount Royal University and author of Capitalist Pigs: Pigs, Pork, and Power in America

"This very welcome and richly exampled book provides a vivid and thought-provoking account of the life of ‘bees’ –moments of co-operative labour – on the farms of southern Ontario from the mid nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century." Family & Community History