Rural Societies and Environments at Risk: Ecology, Property Rights and Social Organisation in Fragile Areas (Middle Ages - Twentieth century) (Rural History in Europe, 9)

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 context, 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. Bas van Bavel is professor of economic and social history of the Middle Ages, head of the section of Economic and Social History, and coordinator of the knowledge centre Institutions of the Open Society at Utrecht University (the Netherlands). Erik Thoen is ordinary professor at Ghent University (Belgium) specialised in rural and environmental history. He is co-ordinator of the CORN history network (Comparative Rural History of the North Sea Area). Rural History And The Environment: A Survey Of The Relationship Between Property Rights, Social Structures And Sustainability Of Land Use / Bas Van Bavel, Erik Thoen -- Ecological Constraints And Property Rights In Swedish Agriculture, C. 1750-1850 / Mats Morell -- Peasant Property, Common Land And Environment In The Garrigues Of The Languedoc From The Seventeenth To The Twenty-first Centuries / Sylvain Olivier -- A Tale Of Two Tragedies: The Case Of The Commons Of Serra De Mértola In Alentejo (southern Portugal) And Their Privatization, Eighteenth To Twentieth Centuries / Rui Santos And Maria José Roxo -- The Social Distribution Of Land And Flood Risk Along The North Sea Coast: Flanders, Holland And Romney Marsh Compared (c. 1200-1750) / Tim Soens -- State, Property Rights And Sustainability Of Drained Areas Along The North Sea Coast, Sixteenth-eighteenth Centuries / Piet Van Cruyningen -- River Regulation, Land Use, Property And Rural Society In Hungary From The Eighteenth Century To 1914 / András Vári -- Collective Property And Environmental Concerns: The French Case, 1750-1900 / Nadine Vivier -- Forest Management And Wood Exploitation: A Comparison Between Public And Private Spanish Forests, 1900-2000 / Iñaki Iriarte-goñi -- Soil Conditions And Environment Versus Manorial Structure And Landownership In Denmark C. 1400-1800 / Peder Dam -- Property Rights, 'good Neighbourhood' And Sustainability: The Management Of Common Land In England And Wales, 1235-1965 / Angus J.l. Winchester. Edited By Bas Van Bavel And Erik Thoen. Includes Bibliographical References.