[El tema que liga a los diferentes capítulos es la contribución de los estudios agrarios y rurales para responder a la cuestión social, en cuanto a la problemática vinculada al proceso de globalización en curso, y a la noción de nueva democracia que fomenta la inclusión, la igualdad, la participación, la emancipación en términos de justicia social y la protección del medio ambiente.]

Contains papers presented at the XII World Congress of Rural Sociology held in South Korea in 2008. This book provides an international view of the advanced production in rural sociology.

This collection explores the complex dynamics of corporate land deals from a broad agrarian political economy perspective, with a special focus on the implications for property and labour regimes, labour processes and structures of accumulation. This involves looking at ways in which existing patterns of rural social differentiation – in terms of class, gender, ethnicity and generation – are being shaped by changes in land use and property relations, as well as by the re-organization of production and exchange as rural communities and resources are incorporated into global commodity chains. It goes further than the descriptive ‘what’ and ‘who’ questions, in order to understand the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of these patterns. It is empirically solid and theoretically sophisticated, making it a robust and boundary-changing work. Contributors come from various scholarly disciplines. Covering nearly all regions of the world, the collection will be of interest to researchers from various disciplines, policymakers and activists. This book was originally published as a Special Issue of the Journal of Peasant Studies.

Este es un libro de introducción a la Sociología. Desde el principio, comprobará el lector que la perspectiva sociológica no se asemeja al conocimiento común, sino que, por el contrario, trata de explicar con una metodología propia de las Ciencias Sociales por qué las cosas son como son. Es decir, la Sociología no solo describe la realidad social o cómo es un fenómeno social determinado, sino que trata de encontrar una explicación a ese acontecimiento o fenómeno social. Desde sus orígenes, la Sociología ha tenido esa pretensión científica de estudiar objetivamente la realidad social, de descubrir las regularidades o las leyes de la vida social. Ese es el enfoque que hemos dado a todos los capítulos de esta obra, a través de los cuales se aborda el estudio de los aspectos nucleares que caracterizan la compleja sociedad actual.

This book looks at labor in agriculture and food in a global era by studying salient characteristics of the conditions and use of labor in global agri-food. Written by experienced and also emerging scholars, the chapters present a wealth of empirical data and robust theorizations that allow readers to grasp the complexity of this topic.

This book provides an up-to-date account of the many processes shaping and transforming rural space in various parts of the world. The various case studies focus on the multi-functionality of the rural world and the driving forces behind it. The book demonstrates that rural areas are no longer simply characterized by an agricultural economy, and instead accommodate multiple complementary activities. It also touches upon two major changes that have taken place. The first is the process of rurbanization, which has led to the clear distinction between town and countryside becoming blurred: urban traits have penetrated rural areas, and rural traits have invaded towns. The second change is that rural areas are increasingly seen as multi-functional, providers not only of food and other natural resources but also locations for the generation of renewable energy (wind farms, solar farms, biogas) and regions for the preservation of biodiversity. These transformations have resulted in a new understanding and self-image of rural areas and their populations.

Filling a gap in contemporary food and globalization scholarship, this timely book presents recent case-study research on the globalization of food systems, and the impacts for communities around the world. It covers debates on new structures and food products, as well as detailed accounts of fresh horticulture, tropical crops and livestock. Drawing together contributions of twenty-six leading international social scientists from eleven countries, this book will interest researchers in geography, development studies, agricultural economics and political science, as well as professionals in the fields of trade and food policy.