Food, Nature and Society

’A broad range of social, economic and political issues are dealt with...Equally impressive is the diversity of countries from which case studies are drawn...Despite this diversity of topics and case studies, the book forms a reasonably cohesive collection and adds to our understanding of the meanings attaching to the rural as we enter the twenty-first century. This is greatly facilitated by an excellent editors' introduction synthesising the contributions. The various chapters display a useful blend of empirical and theoretical material as well as employing a wide variety of research methods.’ Geography 'The in-depth study of the different themes makes it very valuable, not only for rural sociologists but also to agronomists, rural policy-makers and agricultural marketeers.' International Journal of Environment and pollution.

• Contents: Introduction. Agriculture and Rural Life in Late Modernity: Rurality and late modernity in transition countries: the case of Bulgaria, Veska Kozhucharova and Rossitsa Rangelova (Bulgaria); Food industry responses to global integration: fruit producers, state legislators and women farm workers in South Africa, Andrienatta Kritzinger and Jan Vorster (South Africa); Institutionalization and resistance: organic agriculture in Australia and New Zealand, Kristen Lyons and Geoffrey Lawrence (Australia). Food Producers and Food Consumers: The evolution of rural food provisioning between 1978 and 1991, Gwen and Larmet (France); The impact of consumer trust in the Norwegian food market, Oddveig Storstadt (Norway); Towards a consumer images approach - exploring the quirks of modern food consumer behaviour, J.C. Dagevos and H.J.M. Hansman (The Netherlands). Living with Nature?: Changing social representations of the countryside: rurality, nature and heritage within a French National Park, Eileen O’Rourke (France); Farm families as local environmental managers?: a case study on wider farming development, Bareld van der Ploeg (The Netherlands); Reading participation in forest management through modern and post-modern concepts, or: where to start normative debates? Urs Geiser (Switzerland). Rural Development, Policy, and Civil Society: Becoming part of the union - changing rurality in East Germany, Rosemarie Siebert (Germany) and Lutz Laschewski (UK); Europeanising rural Hungary - rural policy networks and policy representations of the countryside in Hungary in the 1990s, András Csite (Hungary); The role of associations in local development - the case of Garfagnana, Giorgio Osti (Italy); From agricultural to rural co-operation in France’s midi vineyard: network theory for a renewal of innovative collective action, Yuna Chiffoleau (France); The co-operative movement in Ireland: reconstructing civil society, Hilary Tovey (Ireland);Bibliograp