Alternative Countrysides : Anthropological Approaches to Rural Western Europe Today

In the last three decades the anthropology of Western Europe has become almost exclusively an anthropology of urban life. The anthropology of rural life in Western Europe has been progressively neglected. Yet, just because cities concentrate people who continue to produce new and unexpected forms of social organization does not mean rurality becomes the emptying home of a tired traditionalism. Far from it. Since the city is only defined by opposition to the countryside, and since rural movements have urban effects, we cannot ignore the changes taking place in hamlets, villages, and rural towns throughout Western Europe. They are a integral part and parcel of life in Europe today. The key aim of this book is to redress this academic imbalance, by examining some of the central changes in the rural zones of contemporary Western Europe. In particular, most contributors look at the newcomers to these areas and the rainbow variety of effects they are having. The ‘alternative’ in our title is to be understood broadly. The contributors are not just looking at the self-proclaimed alternatives (hippies, New Agers, back-to-nature types, etc.) but at labour migrants from outside Western Europe and affluent resettlers as well. Members of all these groups are, in their own way, contributing towards the construction of a non-traditional countryside. All of them help to maintain life in rural areas which would otherwise be emptying of residents. This electronic version has been made available under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) open access license. 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 neo-hippies, lifestyle-seekers, eco-activists, and labour migrants from beyond the EU. With detailed ethnographic examples, contributors analyse new modes of living rurally and emerging forms of social organisation. As incomers'dreams come up against residents'realities, they detail the clashes and the cooperations between old and new residents. They make us rethink the rural/urban divide, investigate regionalists'politicisation of rural life and heritage, and reveal how locals use EU monies to prop up or challenge existing hierarchies. They expose the consequences of and reactions to grand EU-restructuring policies, which at times threaten to turn the countryside into a manicured playground for escapee urbanites. This book will appeal to anyone seriously interested in the realities of rural life today. Front Matter Contents List of figures List of contributors Alternative countrysides: anthropolgy and rural West Europe today A ‘private place’? Changing meanings of the countryside in northern Italy Environmental attitudes, community development, and local politics in Ireland Ethnic identity, power, compromise, and territory: 'locals' and 'Moroccans' in the Sainte-Foy-Bordeaux vineyards The new rural residents: emerging sociabilities in Alava, Basque Country Farms, flats, and villas: senses of country living in a Basque-speaking village The recuperation of Galician pottery: craft professions, cultural policies, and identity Fear and loving in the west of Ireland: the blows of County Clare Index As locals leave traditional rural lives 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. This book provides a fresh anthropological look at a central but neglected topic, the profound changes in rural life throughout Western Europe today 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. -- .