Rural Societies and Environments at Risk
RHN 44/2013 | Publication
https://www.ruralhistory.eu/newsletter/2013/rhn-2013-044
https://www.ruralhistory.eu/newsletter/2013/rhn-2013-044/@@download/image/RHE9.jpg
RHN 44/2013 | Publication
Bas van Bavel / Erik Thoen (eds.), Rural Societies and Environments at Risk. Ecology, Property Rights and Social Organisation in Fragile Areas (Middle Ages-Twentieth Century) (Rural History in Europe, vol. 9), Brepols: Turnhout 2013.
This book discusses the relationship between ecology and rural society in fragile environments of the past. Rural land use in these areas entailed an inherent vulnerability, for instance because of their poor soils, aridity or their location in mountain areas, near the sea or in severe climatic conditions. The various chapters analyse how societies coped with this vulnerability by way of the organization of property rights to land. These rights formed the framework which shaped the use of the land and were a main constituent of the relationship between mankind and ecology in these fragile areas. To a large extent, therefore, they determined - and still determine - the success or failure of rural societies to cope with the challenges posed by their environment. In their turn, however, these property rights were shaped within a wider social and political contexr, in which political and ideological considerations, and special interests, also played their part. As a result, the organization of these rights was not always geared towards sustainability, as demonstrated in these chapters, which discuss and analyse long-term developments in several parts of Northwestern, Central and Southern Europe.
This book is a result of the COST-action Programme for the Study of European Rural Societies (Progressore).