Profession and identity. The case of family farming in Spain

This article analyzes the possibilities and limits of agrarian professional ization in Spain from the point of view of the opinions and attitudes of th e farmers for whom agriculture is their principal activity. The article per mits the identification of a hard core of younger farmers with medium to la rge holdings and with a fruit and vegetable orientation, who identify thems elves as professionals or businessmen, and who show a relative fufillment o f the professional ideal. It is, however, an incipient process which runs i nto all kinds of limitations, not only in attitudes but also in institution s, on one hand relating to the very nature of family farming and, on the ot her, relating to the absence of an adequate political-institutional framewo rk.