Translation sociology and social capital in rural development initiatives. A case study from the Italian Alps

This article analyses the results of a European ‘research and demonstration’ project promoting multifunctional and sustainable agriculture in Alpine regions through a participatory approach. It focuses in particular on initiatives undertaken by a local farmers group in the Italian Alpine area of Val di Sole, the purpose being to draw attention to the role of social dynamics in fostering sustainable rural development in a participatory context. In order to accomplish this objective, two key sociological approaches to the study of rural development, namely social capital and the sociology of translation, are considered. The former focuses on the relational capital available to a group of actors and which can be mobilised in a development initiative. The latter views change in social practices as resulting from a cycle of phases where the problem, its solution, and the identity of the actors are constantly transformed and negotiated. By contrasting the two theoretical approaches in relation to the outcomes of two specific actions implemented in the valley we suggest that the sociology of translation offers a more effective tool with which to capture the complexity of social dynamics involved in a rural development initiative.     

统筹城乡发展的理论思考

本文阐释统筹城乡发展的基本思想。统筹城乡发展的基本含义是城乡平等、协调、共同发展。统筹城乡发展必须坚持政府是统筹主体、发展是第一要义、城乡统筹兼顾、以人为本、可持续发展的基本原则。统筹城乡发展的主要内容是统筹城乡资源配置、统筹城乡产业发展、统筹城乡国民待遇。     

Working with the grain? Towards sustainable rural and community development

This paper explores some connections between the ‘cultural turn’ in recent social theory, and the emergence of new models of local and regional development which have potential importance for the pursuit of sustainable rural development. Two particular examples of attempted cultural engineering, centred on ideas of ‘enterprise culture’ and of ‘corporate culture’, are reviewed and both shown to be flawed by their weak conception of culture. A more convincing account of its importance is derived from work on regional development which emphasises the role of social networks and institutional thickness in enabling the growth of confidence and trust as preconditions for success. It is noted that these institutional conditions show some surprising similarities to traditional social features of rural areas, and so help explain the shift from failed strategies of rural development towards more integrated approaches. A number of examples of contemporary development practice in rural Wales are described, to support the suggestion that the attainment of sustainable economic and social development in rural areas depends upon creating social and institutional networks which embed change within the prevailing social and cultural resources of rural populations.     

Building the Sustainable Community: Is Social Capital the Answer?

Over the past decade, environmental sustainability has emerged as a prominent theme in the community development literature. In fact, the concept has become a standard feature of most economic and social development plans. Most models of sustainable community development stress the importance of widespread participation in the decision-making process. Unfortunately, community studies document numerous barriers to broad involvement and the high level of activeness envisioned by proponents of sustainable community development. In searching for ways to overcome these barriers, scholars and policymakers have embraced the idea that we can enhance efforts to create more sustainable communities by increasing the local stock of social capital. We examine this line of reasoning in light of what we view as the most important conceptual issues surrounding the relationship between social capital and sustainable community development. We conclude that before social capital is endorsed as a central component of public policy, much work remains to be done in terms of developing a more precise definition of the concept, situating it within extant theories of community, constructing better measures of social capital, documenting the activities and networks most important in building social capital, and gaining a better understanding of the forms of social capital that are most important in developing sustainable communities.     

就近就地城镇化问题研究

农村剩余劳动力的转移模式存在异地转移和就地转移两种。农村人口空心化、"大城市病"以及二元户籍制度下农民工的城市融入难题是我国城镇化进程中面临的突出问题。就近就地城镇化以人文本,以经济发展为前提,以有效就业为基础,以城乡基础设施一体化和公共服务均等化为目标,达到人、产、城三者的融合,实现社会经济的可持续发展。     

The cognitive ergonomics and the articulation of the functions of industrial products.. binah.oliveira@gmail.com

The sustainable development is a challenge to all areas of knowledge. In the field of design, it motivates an enhanced discussion about the functions of systems, products and services. Accordingly, this paper presents a theoretical contribution to the sustainable articulation of the functions of industrial products from principles of cognitive ergonomics. This paper is based on an exploratory literature about the functions of industrial products and further study of the relationship between man and object of Cognitive Ergonomics, specifically linked the aesthetic perception and symbolic. Presents qualitative results of this correlation, which indicates the feasibility of a better articulation in product development. The paper argues that in the practical field of design, the best articulation of the functions may influence the effectiveness of product performance in its relationship with the user. Already, on theoretical grounds, this new articulation can help designers to understand the nature of the transdisciplinary functions and the insights into product design.     

湖北省新农村体育发展的现状及对策分析

湖北省作为我国中部省份之一,其新农村体育发展的现状可作为中部地区新农村体育发展的一面镜子。采取文献资料、访谈、逻辑分析等研究方法,对湖北省新农村体育发展的现状进行了论述,并在此基础上探讨了新农村体育发展的对策,以期为推动湖北省新农村体育建设提供理论依据。     

Rural Development Policy: Study Case Green Wine Networks

In the international arena, regions are facing several challenges, such as economic disparities compared to other regions, lack of employment opportunities, economic gaps and standards of development. Even if we live in a globalized system, many less-developed regions lack a clear image of the possibility to create a planning draft for a reliable regional development. In this context, it is necessary to address few basic hypotheses that would help us to understand the methodological approach of the given project. The first basic hypothesis deals with: What is the feasibility of the implementation of a strategic planning of development which will be able to promote regional policy agenda in a reliable manner? What would be the validation of theoretical approaches dealing with the creation of a model of cooperation at regional and inter-regional levels? Is it possible to apply this model at different stages of economic development? How can we make the development strategies sustainable and eco-friendly? The project tries to answer in a theoretical but also in a practical manner, the existing challenges at regional levels. Some solutions could even consist in the creation of a model of territorial cooperation that put in accordance, in a cohesive manner, the common interests of such areas. The core study of the present research is a context analysis that helps the targeted less-developed regions to understand, through systematic steps, the geopolitical features and the effective methodology necessary to enhance all their local excellences and to transform them into real opportunities for rural development, not only at local levels but also at the global level. The study deals with the concern increasing competition between regions and the global challenges makes cooperation inevitable in homogeneous areas in territorial and cultural terms. In such a context, coherently with the increasing globalization and its challenges (economic and environmental), the study aims to strengthen the image of the territories of the Adriatic (our specific case study), such as enhancing their specificity in the international markets and driving them towards sustainable development which is considered as the main factor of socio-economic growth.     

我国生态农村建设之探索

生态农村建设是当前建设社会主义新农村的重大举措,从农村的生态环境、基础条件和农民意识等方面,探讨农村生态环境存在的问题,指出加快农村生态建设的重要性,提出加强乡镇企业环境综合整治、完善体制机制建设、发展生态农业、开展生态文明教育等措施。     

The restructuring of local government in rural regions: A rural development perspective

Rural development is a multidimensional phenomenon. The political dimension, relating as it does to power, resources, accountability, priorities and choice, is a pivotal aspect of rural development. Local government is often the centrepiece of rural political systems. Interventions to reconfigure local government are therefore quintessentially rural development initiatives. They serve to supplement, neutralize or detract from other development initiatives. One way to critically examine local government restructuring policies and programmes is to determine the extent to which they accord with commonly held principles of rural development, both in terms of outcomes and process. This research critically examines a particular public policy intervention in rural Ontario, Canada. Through the application of rural development principles and criteria, it concludes that the process was antithetical to rural development, and in terms of outcomes, of dubious value. It poses several questions and challenges for rural development theory, including governance, and practice.     

Rethinking the European countryside—can we learn from the South?

A new paradigm of multi-dimensional rural development has emerged which advocates a broader conception of the rurality where the rural is no longer the monopoly of the farmer. This new, broader paradigm needs to be reflected in the methodology of social scientific research, both generic and applied. In this paper we are primarily concerned with transfer of research methodologies utilised in development studies in the South to explore their usefulness for rethinking the European countryside. Such a transfer of methodology may be helpful, because integrated rural development can build on a long legacy in the South, while it has only recently been advocated in the EU context. The paper reflects upon the application of two such analytical concepts originating from development studies, which we have applied for research on the rural geographies in the European countryside, namely Sen's livelihood capabilities approach and Chambers’ concept of participatory rural appraisal (PRA). Having the sustainable livelihoods approach as overall framework, both methodologies are qualitative in nature and address people's survival strategies and livelihood practices with a focus on micro-level analysis at individual, household (Sen) and community level (PRA), while reflecting their embeddedness in wider social, political and economic structures. Our comparative studies suggest that the prospects for bottom-up development, as orchestrated by PRA or similar approaches, is constrained by structural factors, which define the boundaries for local development. The capabilities approach is useful to detect the capabilities to act and be within which bottom-up approaches may take their—though limited—role in rural development.     

The quality of sustainability: Agroecological partnerships and the geographic branding of California winegrapes

Quality and sustainability are both socially constructed, ambiguous terms, but they have not been heretofore linked in the rural studies literature. The “quality turn” has received particular attention from researchers for its potential to organize linkages among various forces in agrofood systems, providing more income to producers by appealing to affluent, reflexive consumers. A distinct line of rural research has attended to the challenge of agro-environmental pollution and regulation, but this research trajectory has been subsumed under the broader paradigm of sustainability. This article seeks to contribute to discussions about quality in the agrofood sector by analyzing the potential of fusing rural resource protection practices with place-based marketing of enhanced quality, drawing from an empirical study of the California winegrape industry. In several California commodities, agroecological partnerships are becoming the chief vehicle for extending sustainable agricultural practices. California's winegrape farmers have undertaken more partnerships to greater effect than those of any other US crop, and they are now discursively linking their sustainable farming practices, environmental quality, and wine quality. This marks a new linkage of two heretofore discrete social imaginaries. This article argues that “quality” is a term that can conceptually link increasing consumer demand for differentiated product taste with increasing regulatory pressure for environmental protection. Synergistic benefits from such a linkage have the potential to strengthen rural development initiatives. Making progress toward sustainability requires collective action on the part of producers, and in some commodities, may mesh well with efforts to enhance foodstuff quality.     

上海推进都市农业建设的实践与思考

本文以上海农业为例,通过对都市农业的功能定位和发展方向的分析,科学把握都市农业的主要特征和内在规律,探求都市农业实现农业现代化的基本途径。文章结合上海实际,提出紧紧围绕农业现代化这个主题,把握加快转变农业发展方式这条主线,凸显都市农业三大功能,确保农业增效农民增收这个落脚点,推进都市现代农业可持续发展。     

The mobility imperative for rural youth: the structural,symbolic and non-representational dimensions rural youth mobilities

Mobilities of money, symbols and young people themselves are central to the formation of the contemporary youth period. While rural young people remain marginal to theoretical development in youth studies, this paper shows that mobilities are especially significant for rural youth, who experience a kind of mobility imperative created by the accelerating concentration of economic and cultural capital in cities. Drawing on theory and evidence from contexts including Europe, Australia, Africa and South America, this paper explores the mobility imperative for rural youth and offers a new theoretical framework for understanding rural youth mobilities. The framework understands mobilities across three dimensions: the structural, the symbolic and the non-representational. These dimensions refer to material inequalities between rural and urban places in a global context; symbolic hierarchies that concentrate the resources for ‘youthfulness’ in cities and the affective entanglements between embodied subjectivities and spaces that emerge as young people move. The paper shows how these dimensions interact in the production and experience of the mobility imperative, offering an ontological and theoretical platform for future research into rural youth mobilities.     

Re-conceptualising rural resources as countryside capital: The case of rural tourism

Commentators tend to agree that the rural resource is becoming increasingly subject to pressures arising from an ever wider range of economic, social, political and environmental influences. This paper focuses on the case of rural tourism in illustrating the advantages of adopting a sustainable development approach to identifying suitable policies and strategic action plans to assist in addressing these increasingly complex challenges. The central proposition is that much can be achieved in raising the profile of rural tourism and the nature of its interdependence with rural resources by re-conceptualising the rural resource as a kind of ‘capital asset’ of the rural tourism industry. Drawing on recent thinking by ecological economists, an approach based on the concept of the constant capital rule is set out. The paper then outlines some of the benefits of re-casting the rural resource as ‘countryside capital’, using two case-study vignettes by way of illustration. A major conclusion is that re-conceptualising the rural resource as countryside capital provides a more holistic and integrated understanding of the rural tourism production system, which will be required if rural communities are to capture more effectively the potential benefits rural tourism has to offer them. This, in turn, enables a much clearer articulation of the rationale for public-, private- and voluntary-sector investment in rural resources to be made.     

Activity at work, innovation and sustainable development

The aim of this paper is to present and discuss a French-Brazilian project (CAPES-COFECUB) centered on the relations between sustainable development, innovation and changes in work activities that accompany these innovations for sustainable development. Sustainable development calls for an integrated approach of three dimensions: social equity, economic viability and environmental sustainability. In order to achieve this integration, considerable innovations efforts are required. However, the work, understood as a productive act, is deeply lacking in the current researches. Starting from the idea that work is a "fundamental need" the goal of this project is to propose innovative methods that can be used for designing production systems from the perspective of sustainable development.     

The city in the country: Growing alternative food networks in Metropolitan areas

Alternative food networks (AFNs) are commonly defined by attributes such as the spatial proximity between farmers and consumers, the existence of retail venues such as farmers markets, community supported agriculture (CSA) and a commitment to sustainable food production and consumption. Focusing upon processes rather than attributes, this paper identifies two place-based processes that both promote and constrain the emergence and development of AFNs. Urbanization and rural restructuring are critical to the development of AFNs. AFNs are not a “thing” to be described, but rather emerge from political, cultural and historical processes. The interactions of urbanization and rural restructuring produce AFNs that are differentiated and marked by uneven development that does not necessarily support all farmers participating in the network. This indicates both the fragility and the dynamism inherent in AFNs that are tied to metropolitan development and change. Paradoxically, increasing urban demand for seasonal, and organic produce grown ‘close to home’ and the processes of rural restructuring which emphasize small-scale sustainable family farming and its direct food linkages to cities do not necessarily enable all farmers to consistently make a living from season to season. Evidence for these claims comes from an in-depth, qualitative case study reliant upon participant observation, in-depth interviews and draws from a statewide farmer survey and a regional consumer survey in Washington State.     

加强特色文化体系建设推动新农村发展

针对加强特色文化体系建设,推动新农村精神文明建设健康发展这一主题,较系统地提出农村特色文化体系建设的思路,力图以农村特色文化为核心,从硬件设施建设、地方政府引导、文化活动载体的设计、文化队伍建设、文化活动宣传等方面进行全方位的通盘考虑和统筹规划,探讨如何建设一个具有一定导向的、系统的、具有地域特点的农村特色文化体系,从而形成一个新农村建设的文化助推力。