Download or read book The New Peasantries written by Jan Douwe van der Ploeg and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-05-23 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the position, role and significance of the peasantry in an era of globalization, particularly of the agrarian markets and food industries. It argues that the peasant condition is characterized by a struggle for autonomy that finds expression in the creation and development of a self-governed resource base and associated forms of sustainable development. In this respect the peasant mode of farming fundamentally differs from entrepreneurial and corporate ways of farming. The author demonstrates that the peasantries are far from waning. Instead, both industrialized and developing countries are witnessing complex and richly chequered processes of 're-peasantization', with peasants now numbering over a billion worldwide. The author's arguments are based on three longitudinal studies (in Peru, Italy and The Netherlands) that span 30 years and provide original and thought-provoking insights into rural and agrarian development processes. The book combines and integrates different bodies of literature: the rich traditions of peasant studies, development sociology, rural sociology, neo-institutional economics and the recently emerging debates on Empire.

Download or read book The Social Metabolism written by Manuel González de Molina and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-06-30 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over this last decade, the concept of Social Metabolism has gained prestige as a theoretical instrument for the required analysis, to such an extent that there are now dozens of researchers, hundreds of articles and several books that have adopted and use this concept. However, there is a great deal of variety in terms of definitions and interpretations, as well as different methodologies around this concept, which prevents the consolidation of a unified field of new knowledge. The fundamental aim of the book is to conduct a review of the past and present usage of the concept of social metabolism, its origins and history, as well as the main currents or schools that exist around this concept. At the same time, the reviews and discussions included are used by the authors as starting points to draw conclusions and propose a theory of socio-ecological transformations. The theoretical and methodological innovations of this book include a distinction of two types of metabolic processes: tangible and intangible; the analysis of the social metabolism at different scales (in space and time) and a theory of socio-ecological change overcoming the merely “systemic” or “cybernetic” nature of conventional approaches, giving special protagonism to collective action.

Download or read book Law and Agroecology written by Massimo Monteduro and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-05-06 with total page 502 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book represents a first attempt to investigate the relations between Law and Agroecology. There is a need to adopt a transdisciplinary approach to multifunctional agriculture in order to integrate the agroecological paradigm in legal regulation. This does not require a super-law that hierarchically purports to incorporate and supplant the existing legal fields; rather, it calls for the creation of a trans-law that progressively works to coordinate interlegalities between different legal fields, respecting their autonomy but emphasizing their common historical roots in rus in the process. Rus, the rural phenomenon as a whole, reflects the plurality and interdependence of different complex systems based jointly on the land as a central point of reference. “Rural” is more than “agricultural”: if agriculture is understood traditionally as an activity aimed at exploiting the land for the production of material goods for use, consumption and private exchange, rurality marks the reintegration of agriculture into a broader sphere, one that is not only economic, but also social and cultural; not only material, but also ideal, relational, historical, and symbolic; and not only private, but also public. In approaching rus, the natural and social sciences first became specialized, multiplied, and compartmentalized in a plurality of first-order disciplines; later, they began a process of integration into Agroecology as a second-order, multi-perspective and shared research platform. Today, Agroecology is a transdiscipline that integrates other fields of knowledge into the concept of agroecosystems viewed as socio-ecological systems. However, the law seems to still be stuck in the first stage. Following a reductionist approach, law has deconstructed and shattered the universe of rus into countless, disjointed legal elementary particles, multiplying the planes of analysis and, in particular, keeping Agricultural Law and Environmental Law two separate fields.

Download or read book Centering Animals in Latin American History written by Martha Few and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2013-06-07 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Centering Animals in Latin American History writes animals back into the history of colonial and postcolonial Latin America. This collection reveals how interactions between humans and other animals have significantly shaped narratives of Latin American histories and cultures. The contributors work through the methodological implications of centering animals within historical narratives, seeking to include nonhuman animals as social actors in the histories of Mexico, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Chile, Brazil, Peru, and Argentina. The essays discuss topics ranging from canine baptisms, weddings, and funerals in Bourbon Mexico to imported monkeys used in medical experimentation in Puerto Rico. Some contributors examine the role of animals in colonization efforts. Others explore the relationship between animals, medicine, and health. Finally, essays on the postcolonial period focus on the politics of hunting, the commodification of animals and animal parts, the protection of animals and the environment, and political symbolism. Contributors. Neel Ahuja, Lauren Derby, Regina Horta Duarte, Martha Few, Erica Fudge, León García Garagarza, Reinaldo Funes Monzote, Heather L. McCrea, John Soluri, Zeb Tortorici, Adam Warren, Neil L. Whitehead

Download or read book The European Experience written by Jan Hansen and published by Open Book Publishers. This book was released on 2023-02-21 with total page 767 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The European Experience brings together the expertise of nearly a hundred historians from eight European universities to internationalise and diversify the study of modern European history, exploring a grand sweep of time from 1500 to 2000. Offering a valuable corrective to the Anglocentric narratives of previous English-language textbooks, scholars from all over Europe have pooled their knowledge on comparative themes such as identities, cultural encounters, power and citizenship, and economic development to reflect the complexity and heterogeneous nature of the European experience. Rather than another grand narrative, the international author teams offer a multifaceted and rich perspective on the history of the continent of the past 500 years. Each major theme is dissected through three chronological sub-chapters, revealing how major social, political and historical trends manifested themselves in different European settings during the early modern (1500–1800), modern (1800–1900) and contemporary period (1900–2000). This resource is of utmost relevance to today’s history students in the light of ongoing internationalisation strategies for higher education curricula, as it delivers one of the first multi-perspective and truly ‘European’ analyses of the continent’s past. Beyond the provision of historical content, this textbook equips students with the intellectual tools to interrogate prevailing accounts of European history, and enables them to seek out additional perspectives in a bid to further enrich the discipline.

Download or read book The Economic Value of Landscapes written by C. Martijn van der Heide and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book aims to explore the avenue of landscape economics and provides the building blocks (from different scientific disciplines) for an economic analysis of landscapes. What exactly constitutes and determines the value of a landscape? It focuses on the value of landscapes in its broadest sense, thereby covering a variety of topics including stakeholder involvement in landscape design, landscape governance and landscape perceptions from different countries. Merely saying that landscapes have value or are important is not sufficient - not when resources are scarce and have alternative uses. Measuring and quantifying the economic value of changes in landscapes would help ensure that landscape management decisions are both (economically) rational and sound.

Download or read book Socio Metabolic Perspectives on the Sustainability of Local Food Systems written by Eva Fraňková and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-01-09 with total page 373 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book delves into diverse local food systems and critically assesses their ecological and societal benefits and trade-offs, their limits and opportunities for improving sustainability of food production, and framework conditions which either hinder or promote their development. More and more people with gradually meat heavier diets will demand growth in food production, whilst our increasingly industrialized and globalized agri-food system has already caused serious sustainability problems in the past. This calls for a change in the way we produce, distribute and consume food. A re-emerging debate on food security and food sovereignty seems to support this quest. But what are the promising alternatives to mainstream developments? Such a discussion regarding sustainability of local food systems requires a sound systemic understanding and thus invites a socio-metabolic reading of local cases by analyzing the nexus between material and energy flows as well as land and time use. This approach is needed to complement the so far mostly qualitatively-based local food studies. Applying socio-metabolic approaches to local food systems fosters a better understanding of promises and pitfalls for sustainable pathways in the future.

Download or read book Green Production Strategies for Sustainability written by Tsai, Sang-Binge and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2017-11-30 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When generating electronic products, manufacturing enterprises are producing pollution and waste that is harmful to the environment. As a result of this increasing event, green production has become a valuable research topic. Green Production Strategies for Sustainability is an essential reference source for the latest empirical research and relevant theoretical frameworks on creating profit through environmentally friendly operating processes. Including coverage on a range of topics such as corporate social responsibility, environmental performance, and green supply chain, this book is ideally designed for managers, professionals, and researchers seeking current research on green production use in sustainability.

Download or read book People and Agrarian Landscapes An Archaeology of Postclassical Local Societies in the Western Mediterranean written by Juan Antonio Quirós Castillo and published by Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. This book was released on 2023-04-06 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides an overview of the driving theories, methodologies and main topics that have been addressed to date regarding agrarian archaeology. The text is presented as an introduction for students, a critical reading guide for other scholars, and an informative instrument aimed at a wide audience.

Download or read book The Social Metabolism of Spanish Agriculture 1900 2008 written by Manuel González de Molina and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2019-11-12 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access book provides a panoramic view of the evolution of Spanish agriculture from 1900 to the present, offering a more diverse picture to the complex and multidimensional reality of agrarian production. With a clear transdisciplinary ambition, the book applies an original and innovative theoretical and methodological tool, termed Agrarian Social Metabolism, combining Social Metabolism with an agroecological perspective. This integrative analysis is especially interesting for environmental scientists and policy makers being the best way to design sustainable agroecosystems and public policies capable of moving us towards a more sustainable food system. Spanish agricultural production has experienced impressive growth during the 20th century which has allowed it to ensure the supply of food to the population and even to transform some crops into important chapters in foreign trade. However, this growth has had its negative side since it was based on the injection of large amounts of external energy, on the destruction of employment and the loss of profitability of agricultural activity. But perhaps the most serious part is the strong impact of the current industrialised agriculture model on Spanish agroecosystems, exposed to the overexploitation of hydric resources, pollution of the water by nitrates and pesticides, high erosion rates and an alarming loss of biodiversity; damage which in the immediate future will end up reducing production capacity.

Download or read book Energy in Agroecosystems written by Casado and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2017-01-12 with total page 411 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Energy in Agroecosystems: A Tool for Assessing Sustainability is the first book on energy analysis that is up-to-date and specifically dedicated to agriculture. It is written from an agroecological perspective and goes beyond the conventional analysis of the efficient use of energy. The book provide a methodological guide to assess energy efficiency and sustainability from an eco-energetic point of view. Case studies from both Europe and America, which are representative of today’s most used scales of analysis (crop, farm, local or national) and the different farm management practices (traditional, industrialized, and contemporary organic), apply this methodology This book will be of primary interest to researchers, practitioners, and students working in the areas of agroecology, sustainable agriculture, environmental science, energy analysis, natural resources management, rural development and international development.

Download or read book Political Agroecology written by Manuel González de Molina and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2019-08-30 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Political Agroecology is the first book to offer a systematic and articulated reflection on Political Agroecology from the Agroecological perspective. It defines the disciplinary field responsible for designing and producing actions, institutions and regulations aimed at achieving agrarian sustainability. In short, it aims to build a political theory that makes the scaling-up of agroecological experiences possible, turning them into the foundation of a new and alternative food regime. The book proposes theoretical, practical and epistemological foundations of a new theoretical and practical field of work for agroecologists: Political Agroecology. It establishes a framework for a common agroecological strategy, covering the different levels of collective action and the different instruments with which it can be developed. This will be essential reading for agroecologists, environmentalists, farming and food communities, and an ideal textbook for advanced agroecology courses in universities. Key features: Offers a unique state of the art on this fundamental new topic: Political Agroecology Presents a complete introduction to the political and institutional aspects of Agroecology, covering the whole food system Offers an important tool for searching agrarian sustainability Provides a broad epistemological, theoretical and methodological focus, exploring the connection between the different levels and scales involved in agroecological theory and practice

Download or read book Biocultural Diversity in Europe written by Mauro Agnoletti and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-02-29 with total page 532 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book collects a selection of the papers presented at the meeting held in the context of the Joint Programme on the Links between Biological and Cultural Diversity (JP-BiCuD). Recognizing the inextricable link between biological and cultural diversity, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD) joined forces, and in 2010 launched the Joint Programme on the Links between Biological and Cultural Diversity (JP-BiCuD). The first meeting for the implementation of the JP-BiCuD was held in Florence (Italy) in April 2014 and produced the UNESCO-sCBD Florence Declaration, which highlights the concept of biocultural diversity. The European rural territory is predominantly a biocultural, multi-functional landscape, providing a crucial and effective space for integration of biological and cultural diversity, suggesting the need to revise some of the current strategies for the assessment and management of biodiversity.

Download or read book Net Energy Analysis written by Colorado Energy Research Institute and published by . This book was released on 1976 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Economics of Organic Farming written by Nicolas Lampkin and published by Cabi Cabi. This book was released on 1994 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many European governments now provide direct financial support for organic farming in recognition of its contribution to current policy objectives, including environmental protection, conservation of non-renewable resources, controlling over-production and the reorientation of agriculture towards areas of market demand. Drawing on studies from the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Germany, Denmark and Switzerland, this book provides the first comprehensive international review of the economics of organic farming. It covers the physical and financial performance of organic farms, the special features of adoption and the transition process, the implications of widespread adoption, and the analysis of policy implications and initiatives in the different countries.

Download or read book The Subterranean Forest written by Rolf Peter Sieferle and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work studies the historical transition from the agrarian solar energy regime to the use of fossil energy, which has fuelled the industrial transformation of the last 200 years. The author argues that the analysis of historical energy systems provides an explanation for the basic patterns of different social formations. It is the availability of free energy that defines the framework within which socio-metabolic processes can take place. This thesis explains why the industrial revolution started in Britain, where coal was readily available and firewood already depleted or difficult to transport, whereas Germany, with its huge forests next to rivers, was much longer dependent on a traditional solar energy regime."

Download or read book Agroecology written by Miguel A Altieri and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2018-02-19 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book incorporates new insights and concepts in the hope of helping guide agricultural students, researchers, and practitioners to a deeper understanding of the ecology of agricultural systems that will open the doors to new management options with the objectives of sustainable agriculture.