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1

FROM POLICY TO MISERY? THE STATE AGRICULTURAL FARMS VS. ‘THE RURAL’

100%

Biegańska J., Dymitrow M., Grzelak-Kostulska E.

Quaestiones Geographicae

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2019

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vol. 38

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issue 4

EN

1989 was a turning point in the socio-economic development in the former Eastern bloc, initiating a systemic transformation that affected the society at large. It also contributed to the crystallisation of certain cultural landscapes, hitherto largely illegible due to the inhibition of spatial processes encountered during socialism. In Poland, after a quarter-century of a free market economy, the focus on social problems began to expand to the spatial realm as well. It became apparent that the progressive social polarisation that followed was most prominent in environments striated by a particular landscape type – the former State Agricultural Farm (PGR). Considering PGRs as ‘the epitome of rurality’ subject to ideas informing about the direction of contemporary ‘rural development’ prompts a different way of looking at the problem. In this paper, we investigate the concept of rurality in the discursive tenor of implemented policy and contrast it with contextualised empirical examples. Our findings suggest that an efficient policy should be confronted with the expectations of residents at the local level, and introducing top-down actions usually ends in failure as in the case of post-PGR estates.

2

Liikuvus maal – läbi kriiside hübriidse võrgustunud ruumi poole

100%

Raili N.

Mäetagused

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2022

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vol. 84

85-110

EN

Silence and tranquillity form an integral part of rural life and contribute to our understanding of rurality. Thus, it is generally held that time passes slowly in the countryside, far from the nervous city life. Therefore, it is not surprising that mobility and movement (which are associated with speed and being busy) are associated with urbanity and stillness with rurality. Peace and quiet and the absence of hustle are highlighted even by those who live in the countryside and spend long hours in the car commuting between work and home. Such an image affects people’s daily life decisions, movement patterns, local development and infrastructure, as well as national policy of shaping rural life. What is often overlooked is that rural areas are connected to cities in hybrid and extensive ways that affect the development of society as a whole. This article analyses the networks between the country and the city in two recent crises – the COVID-19 pandemic and Ukrainian refugee crisis. It is argued that these relational connections surface vividly in situations of crisis and show that urban-rural networks constitute a kind of hybrid socio-spatial form. Although the boundaries between them are blurred, the image of both rurality and urbanity is powerfully created in discourses and in everyday debates, justifying daily decisions, thus ignoring the intertwined character of these urban-rural relations. Both crises referred to the importance of motility – in both cases, who could move, where and with what timing was of critical importance. In the case of the pandemic, inequalities in mobility manifested themselves in different spheres – which urban dwellers could move to the countryside (owning a country home is a privilege), who could work remotely (mostly in middle-class jobs) or who could go to a place with limited access (mostly islands or popular domestic tourism areas). In the case of Ukrainians, the ability to move was also critical – it consisted in the very possibility of leaving Ukraine. Even after arriving in Estonia, the fate of the refugees largely depended on the location where they found themselves – either in a big city where it was easy to move with the help of public transport or on foot, or in rural areas where it was more difficult to get around due to the lack of public transportation. During the Ukrainian refugee crisis, the rural cosmopolitanism emerged in Estonia more clearly than before. On the one hand, the ethnic and cultural composition of small places changed almost overnight, and thus rural areas became more diverse. On the other hand, this unexpected challenge showed that the rural cosmopolitan community is in many ways vulnerable and precarious. It is noteworthy that strong cultural constructions of rural people (peaceful, safe) and urban people (dangerous invaders) surfaced in conflict situations. On the other hand, the tensions showed how closely the country and the city are connected through mobility. At the same time, mobilities also affected the daily life of people who did not move. One person’s movement could affect another’s staying put, as well as interpersonal relationships, political decisions, and life arrangements. It can be concluded that rural areas are becoming more hybrid for various reasons, and they are connected to the city through various forms of movement in ways that may go unnoticed at first glance, but which emerge precisely in crisis situations. Crises also highlight the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of these bonds, as well as their strengths. Rural populations and their modes of movement shape everyday practices and infrastructures, just as the image and discursive power of rural areas shapes people’s decisions – both big and small.

3

Mobiilne kuuluvustunne kui toimetulekuviis 1950. aastate argielus: ühe pere lugu

86%

Kadri K., Hannes P.

Mäetagused

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2022

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vol. 84

111-132

EN

This study contributes to the micro-history during the structural reorganization of Estonia in the 1950s by examining everyday letter exchange between the members of a family consisting of a single mother and her two daughters. The study uses a mobilities approach toward the meaning of belonging while investigating everyday places and related practices, the mentalities of individual stages of life, and symbolical relations which are influenced by structural formation. The study indicates mobile characteristics of belonging in a family’s subjective attachment to a place. The letters reflect the developments in self-identity related to the sense of belonging of two different generations influenced by rural and urban everyday life. The sense of belonging of the mother, born before World War II, is moving to the past, where the historically shaped everyday life and personal meaning-making at the rural home farm can offer symbolic and practical safety in this insecure social period. The sense of belonging of the younger daughter, considering her personal life stage and the conditions of the ruling power, is adapting to urban life, as this environment offers better possibilities for self-realization.

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Komodifikace venkova a utváření identity regionu

86%

Delín M., Pospěch P.

Sociologický časopis. Czech Sociological Review

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2016

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vol. 52

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issue 2

209-235

EN

This paper focuses on the commodification and marketisation of Czech rural areas and on the consequences these processes have for regional identities. Through a case study of a Local Action Group (LAG), the paper traces the construction of rurality and the ways in which rurality is employed as an identity tool and a market commodity. The study is grounded in a constructivist approach in rural sociology, emphasising the multiplicity of meanings ascribed to the rural by stakeholders. The study highlights the identity politics produced by rural development programmes and the implications these have for defining regional borders and for the very notion of ‘rurality’. Commodification gives rise to a sphere of cultural economics, whereby the past and natural and cultural heritage are sold on the market. The establishment of a certified brand of regional products is an important tool of cultural economics. Two layers of identity are traced in the study of this process (and of the activities of the LAG in general). The paper argues that the tension between the layers of marketised identity and quasi-natural identity reflects the tension between professional and lay discourses of rurality.

5

Aspekty wiejskości w krajobrazie kulturowym dużego miasta na przykładzie Krakowa

72%

Faracik R.

Konwersatorium Wiedzy o Mieście

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2020

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vol. 33

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issue 5

81-99

EN

The aim of the article is to describe selected aspects of rurality in the contemporary cultural landscape of Kraków. Four aspects traditionally associated with the rural landscape were analyzed: rural settlement systems, toponymy, land use and agriculture, and selected elements of folk culture. Attention was given both to manifestations of rurality visible in material forms and elements constituting intangible heritage. The article raises the issue of the multidimensional character of this phenomenon and the need for interdisciplinary research in this field.

PL

Celem artykułu jest charakterystyka wybranych aspektów wiejskości uwidaczniających się we współczesnym krajobrazie kulturowym Krakowa. Analizie poddano cztery aspekty tradycyjnie związane z krajobrazem wsi: wiejskie układy osadnicze, toponimię, użytkowanie gruntów i rolnictwo oraz wybrane elementy kultury ludowej. Zwrócono uwagę zarówno na przejawy wiejskości uwidaczniające się w formie materialnej, jak i stanowiące elementy dziedzictwa niematerialnego. W artykule pod-niesiono kwestię wielowymiarowości tego zjawiska i potrzebę interdyscyplinarnych badań w tej dziedzinie.

6

Asociacionismo y cambio social en comunidades rurales andinas. Aproximación al caso de los cafeteros colombianos

58%

Rodríguez-Herrera D. M.

Revista del CESLA. International Latin American Studies Review

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2020

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issue 25

57-79

EN

Associativism is a driver of agrarian modernization, crucial in the analysis of social change processes in rural communities. This article provides ethnographic evidence about types and practices of associativism in communities dedicated to coffee cultivation, in the Colombian Andes. It seeks contribute to academic discussions regarding the reformulation of development in Latin America. The field work considered the daily life of an agricultural association in the municipality of La Celia (Risaralda, Colombia), with the objective of analyzing the supposed associative weakness in Andean communities. The results show how situations of coffee economic crisis tend to motivate the sudden updating of local associative forms, under the protection of transnational organizations, who end up installing new productive dilemmas within communities. This phenomenon affects domestic sociabilities, which support local associativism. It also influences social trust and future associative aptitude.

ES

El asociacionismo constituye un impulsor de la modernización agraria, crucial en el análisis de procesos de cambio social en comunidades rurales. El presente artículo aporta evidencia etnográfica sobre tipos y prácticas de asociacionismo en comunidades andinas dedicadas al cultivo de café, buscando contribuir a las discusiones relativas a la reformulación del desarrollo en Latinoamérica. El trabajo de campo abordó la cotidianidad de una asociación agrícola el municipio de La Celia (Risaralda, Colombia), con el objetivo de analizar la supuesta debilidad asociativa en comunidades andinas. Los resultados muestran cómo situaciones de crisis económica cafetera tienden a motivar la actualización súbita de formas asociativas locales, al amparo de organismos trasnacionales, que acaban instalando nuevos dilemas productivos al interior de las comunidades. Este fenómeno afecta sociabilidades domésticas, que vertebran el asociacionismo local. Influye también en la confianza social y en la aptitud asociativa futura.

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2 Mäetagused

1 Konwersatorium Wiedzy o Mieście

1 Quaestiones Geographicae

1 Revista del CESLA. International Latin American Studies Review

1 Sociologický časopis. Czech Sociological Review

1 Biegańska J.

1 Delín M.

1 Dymitrow M.

1 Faracik R.

1 Grzelak-Kostulska E.

1 Hannes P.

1 Kadri K.

1 Pospěch P.

1 Raili N.

1 Rodríguez-Herrera D. M.

2 2022

2 2020