Alternative countrysides : anthropological approaches to rural Western Europe today / edited by Jeremy MacClancy.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

MacClancy, Jeremy.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sociology, Rural--Europe, Western.

Sociology, Rural.

Country life--Europe, Western.

Country life.

Europe.

Western Europe.

Physical Description:

viii, 172 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Manchester : Manchester University Press, 2015.

Summary:

This volume takes a fresh anthropological look at a central but neglected topic: the profound changes in rural life throughout Western Europe today. As locals leave for jobs in cities, they are replaced by a variety of incomers including neo-hippies, lifestyle-seekers, eco-activists and rural labour migrants from beyond the EU. Contributors to this book examine the consequences of these major shifts in rural populations, and analyse the creation of new modes of living rurally and emerging forms of social organisation. As incomers' dreams come face to face with residents' realities, they detail the clashes, the misunderstandings and the forms of cooperation between groups of old and new residents. The essays within this book provide detailed ethnographic examinations, drawn from areas in Ireland, France, Spain, the Basque Country and Italy, of the unexpected, myriad ways in which contemporary rural life is developing. The contributions critically investigate regionalists' politicisation of rural life, rurality and heritage, and discuss the ways locals take advantage of EU monies to prop up existing hierarchies, or to challenge them profoundly. By making us rethink 'the rural', they reconceptualise the encounter of the rural and the urban. Written by an international collection of well-established social anthropologists, the studies reveal the power of a 'bottom-up' approach. They expose the on-the-ground consequences of and reactions to grand EU-restructuring policies, which at times threaten to turn the countryside into a manicured playground for escapee urbanites. As a novel, significant contribution to our understanding of rural lives in Western Europe today, this book will appeal to academics and students in anthropology, migrations studies, human geography and rural sociology. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Alternative countrysides: anthropology and rural West Europe today / Jeremy MacClancy MacClancy, Jeremy 1

2 A 'private place'? Changing meanings of the countryside in northern Italy / Jaro Stacul Stacul, Jaro 29

3 Environmental attitudes, community development, and local politics in Ireland / Paul Collinson Collinson, Paul 46

4 Ethnic identity, power, compromise, and territory: 'locals' and 'Moroccans' in the Sainte-Foy-Bordeaux vineyards / Chantal Crenn Crenn, Chantal 61

5 The new rural residents: emerging sociabilities in Alava, Basque Country / Josetxu Martínez Montoya Montoya, Josetxu Martínez 82

6 Farms, flats, and villas: senses of country living in a Basque-speaking village / Kepa Fernández de Larrinoa Larrinoa, Kepa Fernández de 95

7 The recuperation of Galician pottery: craft professions; cultural policies, and identity / Elena Freire Paz Paz, Elena Freire 119

8 Fear and loving in the west of Ireland: the blows of County Clare / Jeremy MacClancy MacClancy, Jeremy 143.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780719096846

0719096847

OCLC:

910978181