Contrasting empirical studies of ten European countries, this volume provides a comprehensive analysis of the economic, social, political and cultural restructuring processes taking place in rural Europe and of the various national, regional and local development programmes devised to respond to these. It focuses particularly on issues of power and leadership in the evolution and administration of these programmes.

Featuring chapters by an international group of scholars and academics, Rural Youth at the Crossroads discusses the challenges and contexts facing youth from rural communities in countries with legacies of socialism undergoing social, political, and economic transition. The chapters employ a variety of sources and approaches to examine rural youth outcomes, and the well-being and sustainability of rural areas. The book focuses particularly on career and educational goals, the often contradictory relations between rural schools and communities, majority-minoritized group relations, community engagement, and political attitudes. Individual chapters examine these questions and dynamics within Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Romania, Russia, Serbia, and Vietnam. In total the volume represents a unique and timely comparative discussion of the relationship between youth and rural development within transitional societies, and the challenges and opportunities for enhancing the well-being and sustainability of rural communities. Aimed at informing strategies to revitalize rural social space, this book is targeted towards social scientists with interest in sociology and rural sociology, demography, education, youth development, community/regional development, rurality, public policy, and identity formation in transitional contexts. As such, this book will have international appeal to researchers, educators, and policymakers in transitional countries, and to those interested in these topics, regions, and communities.

Rural areas are often viewed as isolated and stagnating areas and urban areas as their opposites. Against such a backdrop, this book seeks to unveil a set of dynamics that view rural areas as ‘translocal’ in the sense that they are ‘changing’ and ‘interconnected’. Social transformations take place in rural areas as the result of intense exchanges between different people, settings and geographies. Accordingly, rural-urban but also rural-rural interrelations on international and national scales are strongly contributing to rural change. Translocal ruralism is exemplified through the analysis of local and global migratory flows, the activities of rural firms in national and global arenas, the spread of different forms of transportation and dislocation, and the growing information society, which enables rural spaces to be connected to the world and improves new ways of interconnection and sociability practices. The book is structured into two parts, which intertwine the dynamics of rural spaces. The first part, ‘Linking nodes: people and networks connecting places’, is concerned with mobilities such as migration and commuting, and the establishment of national and global networks. The second part, ‘International mobilities: a tension between scales’, analyses the dynamics of international migration and mobilities in rural areas.

This volume presents case studies of Iron Age rural settlement from across Europe illustrating both the diversity of patterns in the evidence and common themes.

The worldwide interest in sustainable development has not only prompted ecological developments in policy and research in key sectors such as industry or transportation, but also in the management and assessment of new lifestyles such as healthy food consumption and sustainable use of products. In this context, agriculture is an important example because of its dual nature as both a high-tech sector producing modern mass products and also a traditional sector producing environmentally-friendly goods. Illustrated by a range of case studies from across Europe, this volume examines the interface of agricultural - and sometimes rural - development and the social and economic feasibility of traditional modes of production and consumption. It provides an overview of the various strategies and policies concerning sustainable agriculture, presenting a critical review of the opportunities of traditional production modes, from local, regional, national and global perspectives.

This book analyses the functioning of factor markets for agriculture in the EU-27 and several candidate countries.

This book offers a comprehensive analysis of the Common Agricultural Policy which imposes high costs on taxpayers and consumers yet has proved very difficult to reform. Particular emphasis is placed on new developments affecting the shape of the CAP, including the outcome of the GATT Uruguay Round negotiations, Eastern enlargement, and developments in environmental policy. A distinctive feature of the book is the attention given to situating European agriculture within its global context and in relation to the food processing and agricultural supply industries.