Other
Europe and German Villages
Andreas Bodenstedt
; Institut za agrarnu sociologiju i savjetovanje, Sveučilište Justus-Liebig, Gießen, Njemačka
Abstract
The author deals with the questions does future Europe need villages,
and will the process of European unification do harm to the German
villages. The general features of village round the globe, the process
of peasant migration and contemporary movements of urban inhabitants in opposite direction, point out that the 3rd millennium will
not to be the end of the debate on the decline of villages and rural exodus. The rural sociology can contribute in finding answers and
solutions to the actual questions from the perspectives of dichotomies
of past and future, and of village and city. The opposition of countryside and town has become dominant no matter, whether village and city are self-contained, independent and complementary to
each other, or are dependent and have submitted rural to urban. The
discourse centres on three main topical areas: material and social
changes between village and town, changes in value orientation of
peasantry to farmers and agriculturists concentrated on entrepreneurial industrialised agriculture, and changes in self-initiated
development and governmental support programmes for »village
renewal«. The consequences of these instruments at some invoke the
impression of a »rural renaissance«, but others reveal noteworthy contradictions in the village renewal criticised as painting the facades,
and cultural revival as profit-oriented folklorism. Many experts maintain that industrialisation and globalisation are unavoidable because mankind needs sufficient high quality food accesible in stable
and diversified markets. Such a development probably would to damage to the village structure. Because our thinking is based on a
monothetical way of economic reasoning - on industrial mode of production and consumption. The interventions against the global gene-technological industrialisation of agriculture and food production
(information and education campaigning, prohibiting misuse and
negligence, and regulating markets) meet with manifold difficulties. The discourse on the future of the countryside is in full swing because
it is not recognised the force of the spirit of capitalist industrialisation
as the main source of contradictions, misjudgements, and »mistakes«
that paralyse the public debate. Debates along with the conceptions
of »risk society«, »communicative society«, »capital« and »globalisation«, are very far from the reality of village life. The way in
which the problem of »harmonising« the results of regional differences
will be solved, how the rising transportation will be prevented, as well
as folklore tourism will be a respectable force to cultivate rural culture, and ecological claims of the consumers will be decisive for
the future of the village in Europe.
Keywords
future; Europe; village; monothetical approach; factual rural problems
Hrčak ID:
37240
URI
Publication date:
12.5.2009.
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