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Integrated Peasant Economy in Central and Eastern Europe
A Comparative Approach
Income integration based on the peasants’ engagement in non-agrarian sectors is a prominent and widespread feature in the history of the European countryside. While listing a multitude of activities outside the narrow scope of farm management aimed at self-consumption prevailing interpretations emphasize how survival was the goal of peasant economies and societies. The “integrated peasant economy” is a new concept that considers the peasant economy as a comprehensive system of agrarian and non-agrarian activities disclosing how peasants demonstrate agency aspirations and the ability to proactively change and improve their economic and social condition. After having been successfully applied to the Alpine and Scandinavian areas the book tests this innovative concept through a range of case studies on central and eastern European regions comprising Poland the Czech Republic Slovenia Serbia Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine. By enhancing our knowledge on central and eastern Europe and questioning the assumption that these regions were “different” it helps overcome interpretive simplifications and common places as well as the underrepresentation of the “eastern half” of Europe in scholarly literature on rural history. That’s why the book represents a refreshing methodological contribution and a new insight into European rural history.
From Breeding & Feeding to Medicalization
Animal Farming, Veterinarization and Consumers in Twentieth-Century Western Europe
To fully understand the changes in European animal husbandry during the long twentieth century it is necessary to examine all aspects of the food chain devoted to supplying proteins and fats to a growing population. Indeed the twentieth century saw great changes in animal husbandry - towards a market-oriented intensified and specialized production. This influenced and was influenced by policies trade aspects of animal and public health food supply issues aims in animal breeding development of production systems principles in feeding and impact of producer cooperatives.
Because it is not possible to apprehend all these global changes from a rural point of view this book aims to bring together many different expert perspectives in fields such as: agronomy veterinary medicine microbiology history of sciences economic and cultural history and sociology. Taking into account both national idiosyncrasies and changes from an international perspective the book gathers scientists from Italy Spain France England The Netherlands and Sweden.
The first part of the book will be devoted to the evolution of animal husbandry and commercialization from the end of the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twenty-first century. The second part of the book is devoted to the increasing medicalization of this sector with a special focus on the role of veterinarians and the on the increasing uses of antibiotics.
Labeur, production et économie monastique dans l’Occident médiéval
De la Règle de saint Benoît aux Cisterciens
Tous les groupes humains produisent afin d’assurer leur subsistance mais il n’y a pas de « travail » ni a fortiori de « travailleurs » dans nombre de sociétés au sens du moins que ces notions ont pris en Europe à l’époque de l’industrie et de l’économie politique. Reste que beaucoup d’historiens considèrent le monachisme du Moyen Âge comme une sorte de laboratoire des formes du « travail » en Occident du reste à l’origine du processus de « croissance » qui caractérisa cette partie du monde.
Les quatorze auteurs de ce volume ont entrepris de reprendre sur nouveaux frais la question des représentations et des pratiques du labeur en examinant tout à la fois les modèles les règlements et les rapports sociaux à l’œuvre au sein des monastères occidentaux depuis les premiers écrits latins et les premières traces archéologiques jusqu’au développement des établissements cisterciens aux XIIe-XIIIe siècles. Plusieurs contributions s’efforcent de reconstituer les catégories médiévales de l’activité humaine tout en interrogeant les modalités concrètes d’exploitation des ressources. L’ouvrage accorde une large place aux débats historiographiques en s’attachant notamment à saisir la genèse entre xixe et xxe siècle de la figure du « moine civilisateur » et de l’idéal du « travail monastique » souvent bien éloignés des réalités du Moyen Âge.
Richesse, terre et valeur dans l'occident médiéval
Économie politique et économie chrétienne
Quelles sont les conséquences de l’encastrement de l’économique dans le social ? Posée dès les années 1940 par Karl Polanyi à propos des sociétés qui se situent de l’autre côté du « grand partage » cette question est déterminante pour comprendre les conditions autant culturelles que matérielles du développement au sein de l’Occident médiéval. Sans renoncer à un certain nombre d’interrogations de l’économie politique l’ouvrage de Laurent Feller intègre les méthodes et les résultats des sciences sociales afin de parvenir à une description du réel qui rend compte de l’action des hommes sur les choses et de ce que font les agents dans la société chrétienne du Moyen Âge lorsqu’ils produisent échangent et consomment. Il s’intéresse notamment à l’attitude des élites à l’égard de la terre à la fois outil de production et vecteur de prestige aux instruments cognitifs des moines des évêques et des aristocrates laïcs qui manipulent les richesses aux modes d’évaluation et aux façons de solder les échanges.
Assassins des pauvres
L’Église et l’inaliénabilité des terres à l’époque carolingienne
Donnés à Dieu les biens fonciers des églises sont réputés inaliénables et les personnes qui tenteraient de s’en emparer sacrilèges et excommuniées. Cependant derrière un discours parfois très dur à l’encontre des spoliateurs se cache une réalité des échanges beaucoup plus complexe. Le livre analyse la littérature de combat des clercs carolingiens à la lumière des pratiques foncières de l’époque. Entre les années 820 et 880 les traités visant à définir les biens ecclésiaux se multiplient au moment même où le système des bénéfices mis en place un siècle plus tôt se voit bouleversé par les rapides mutations que connaît l’empire des Francs. La compétition pour les terres d’église révèle alors tout le jeu de hiérarchisation et de distinction d’une élite mise sous pression.
Acquérir, prélever, contrôler: Les ressources en compétition (400-1100)
Les ressources matérielles sont un élément de première importance de la compétition au Haut Moyen Âge en étant l’arrière-plan souvent le moyen parfois l’enjeu de la compétition elle-même. D'une part la compétition conduit ou souvent impose de mobiliser des ressources d’autre part ses formes sont affectées par la disponibilité ou la rareté des ressources. Elles sont donc un point d’observation privilégié pour comprendre les systèmes de valeurs et les règles souvent implicites qui président alors aux actions des élites. Ce volume est le résultat du troisième colloque organisé à Rome par le groupe international de recherches sur la compétition dans les sociétés médiévales (400-1000). En croisant des perspectives qui tiennent de l’anthropologie et de certaines lignes de l’histoire économique ce livre prend en considération les formes du rapport entre compétition et ressources dans une grande variété de milieux sociaux et institutionnels de l’Europe occidentale du haut Moyen Âge de la famille aux élites politiques et religieuses aux sociétés rurales aux communautés artisanes et marchandes.
The Agro-Food Market: Production, Distribution and Consumption
Volume editorial board:
Leen Van Molle (University of Leuven Belgium) Yves Segers (University of Leuven Belgium) (directors)
John Chartres (University of LeedsUK) Marc de Ferrière le Vayer (University of Tours France) Pim Kooij (Wageningen University Netherlands) Michael Kopsidis (IAMO Halle (Saale) Bjørn Poulsen (Aarhus University Denmark) Jean-Pierre Williot (University of Tours France)
Agriculture and alimentation have from early times always been crucial elements in the development of market systems. Shortage and surplus gave shape to different forms of exchange and sale to the dynamics of supply and demand and to expanding interconnections between both regions and social groups. Farmers learned to adapt their production to market conditions and to the shifting needs and tastes of a growing and demanding public. But the path from a self-supporting way of life to the present forms of market integration in the complex global world was far from uniform and linear. Food production market structures and market mechanisms changed over time and differed between regions and countries of the North Sea area. This volume aims at exploring and unravelling the complexity of the agro-food market from the field to the table.
Poverty and Prosperity in the Middle Ages and Renaissance
In this interdisciplinary and cross-cultural volume edited by Dr. Cynthia Kosso and Dr. Anne Scott medieval and Early Modern historians and literary scholars unearth define and re-define the nature of poverty and prosperity. Through the exploration of texts religious and spiritual behavior statistics class and gender issues philosophical concepts and figurative language the authors investigate poverty and wealth in Middle Ages and Early Modern era. As the introduction to the volume states “It stands to reason that the multitude of ways in which we represent and have discussed wealth or its absence; the myriad conditions that make us either rich or poor prosperous or impoverished; and the ways in which we have maintained the better condition or have ameliorated the worse have captured our imaginations and intellect as they continue to do today.” These essays provide a nuanced examination of the conceptualization and material representation of two terms that help define and shape our very existence today. Drs. Kosso and Scott are the editors of Fear and its Representations in the Middle Ages and Renaissance (2002) and The Nature and Function of Water Baths Bathing and Hygiene from Antiquity through the Renaissance (2009).
Making a Living: Family, Income and Labour
Volume editorial board
Eric Vanhaute (Ghent University Belgium) Isabelle Devos (Ghent University Belgium) Thijs Lambrecht (Ghent University Belgium) (directors)
Gérard Béaur (CNRS/EHESS France) Georg Fertig (University of Münster Germany) Carl-Johan Gadd (University of Gothenburg Sweden) Erwin Karel (University of Groningen The Netherlands) Michael Limberger (Ghent University Belgium) Richard Paping (University of Groningen The Netherlands) Phillipp Schofield (Aberystwyth University Wales UK).
The central issue in this volume is the relation and the interaction between production reproduction and labour in rural societies. The main questions concern the way in which resources became available to the rural family and to its members and the strategies which were employed to generate these resources. The goal is to interpret household formation and the economic behaviour of its members within the context of the structural features of the regional social agro-system. Two sets of research questions structure the chapters in this book. The first set evaluates the impact of these processes on the family as a unit (of reproduction and production) and the relationships between its members (internal family relations). These issues are essentially dealt with from a socio-demographic perspective. The second set of questions aims to understand how families adapted their behaviour to changing social and economic circumstances. These topics are studied from a predominantly socio-economic perspective.
Les élites et la richesse au Haut Moyen Âge
Ce volume recueille les actes d’un colloque tenu à Bruxelles dans le cadre du programme international «Les élites au haut Moyen Âge» et se propose d’étudier la richesse comme critère d’appartenance à l’élite sociale politique ou religieuse et les usages faits de leurs biens matériels par les membres de ces groupes.
La possession de biens matériels qu’il s’agisse de terres de demeures de bijoux d’armes de biens de production ou de biens de prestige fait partie des éléments permettant à des groupes sociaux ou à des individus d’exercer leur domination sur les autres. À côté du prestige qu’assure la culture ou de la situation à la tête de réseaux complexes dans une société où les hiérarchies sont essentielles la richesse classe et contribue à l’établissement du rang d’un individu ou d’un groupe dans l’ordre social.
Être riche entraîne un certain nombre de comportements et contraint à la satisfaction d’obligation de tous ordres: il existe un usage chrétien de la richesse et donc tout un discours sur sa signification et sa destination. La composition des fortunes leur évolution leur gestion et leur transmission sont de véritables problèmes auxquels le colloque «Les élites et la richesse durant le haut Moyen Âge» s’est efforcé de répondre en axant ses interrogations sur les rationalités à l’œuvre dans les comportements des grands agents économiques de la période qu’il s’agisse d’abbés d’évêques ou de membres de l’aristocratie laïque.
Pour cette raison les vingt contributions de l’ouvrage sont distribuées en trois parties «Discourir sur la richesse» «Être riche» et «Obtenir et utiliser les richesses» qui marquent toutes trois un point de vue sur les interactions entre la richesse et la domination sociale telle qu’elle apparaît à travers les sources à notre disposition.
Contexts of Property in Europe
The Social Embeddedness of Property Rights in Land in Historical Perspective
The essays in this book tap the potential of the historical analysis of social contexts in which property rights are embedded - social relations power and agency political institutions culture - to understand how landed resources are actually appropriated. This exploratory approach seeks both to take advantage of the existing theory of property rights as it is applied by the institutionalist outlook on economic history and to go beyond it by explicitly incorporating social processes and factors in the analysis of property institutions. With this common aim in mind the book covers a wide variety of historical cases throughout space and time from the late Middle Ages in the Czech lands and in Tuscany to the very recent de collectivisation of the countryside in former socialist countries which will contribute rich and grounded insights to the discussion of the topic and of its implications.
Rosa Congost is senior researcher at the Centre de Recerca d'Història Rural and teaches at Facultat de Lletres in Universitat de Girona. Her research interests cover the history of landed property and agrarian social relations.
Rui Santos is senior researcher at CESNOVA and teaches at Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas in Universidade Nova de Lisboa. His research interests cover historical and economic sociology and rural studies.
Agrosystems and Labour Relations in European Rural Societies
(Middle Ages-Twentieth Century)
It goes without saying that agriculture is a form of colonisation of nature by society. In the course of history the articulation of natural and societal features gave rise to a wide variety of agrosystems within the boundaries of Europe which were embedded in supra-regional political and economic contexts at least from the High Middle Ages onwards. By following an integrative approach this volume defines agrosystems as production systems based on the ecological and socioeconomic relations involved in the reproduction of rural societies at multiple levels. The authors explore the articulation of natural and societal factors through the prism of labour relations. The structural and practical organization of labour is seen as the crucial link between rural production and reproduction. Accordingly the contributions focus on the rural household as the basic unit of production and reproduction in different temporal and spatial contexts. Therefore the question arises if the changes in ecosystems and social systems have so fundamentally altered European agriculture up to now that peasant family farming will disappear (if it is no longer sustained by state intervention).
Fashioning Old and New. Changing Consumer Patterns in Europe (1650-1900)
A continuing ‘cry for the new’ it is said drives present-day consumerism. People are producing and buying new goods in ever-larger quantities. However in the past consumer choices for new products were paralleled and even overlapped by structurally embedded practices such as re-use recycling and resale. Unfortunately far too little is known about these important practices. The ‘birth of a consumer society’ was grounded not only in the appearance of new products and new industries; a similar drive manifested itself in the handling buying and selling of ‘second-hand’.
In this book then the editors confront and integrate historical research on the world of the new and the old. Papers focus on the relationship between material culture and novelty fashion and innovation on the one hand; and/or patina second-hand and re-cycling on the other. Differences existed in the use of old and new products according to time place social and gender groups. By paying close attention to this historical diversity this book explores the changing meanings and motivations of consumption. The geographical coverage will be an urban one. The studied time frame will be ‘the long eighteenth-century’ (from circa 1650 until 1900). It was only then that rapid fashion changes new imports and spreading industrialization changed the existing material culture dramatically. However comparisons crossing time and place do place sweeping ‘modern’ assumptions in perspective. After all: who can decipher how the concepts old and new are changing today with the current popularity of more responsible (social and ecological) forms of consumption and recycling and with vintage-clothing and antique furniture back en vogue?
Bruno Blondé is Research Professor at the Center for Urban History (University of Antwerp). His research interest includes urban networks transport history and the history of consumption.
Natacha Coquery is appointed Professor at the University of Nantes. She has written extensively on the shopping and consumer habits of the French elites.
Jon Stobart is appointed professor at the University of Northampton. He has worked on urban networks and consumption in spatial perspective.
Ilja Van Damme is Postdoctoral Fellow of the Fund for Scientific Research. He has written a PhD on the interrelationships between consumer changes and retail evolutions.