Download or read book Crisis and Change in Rural Europe written by Richard Black and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book argues that the marginal upland regions of southern Europe are facing a growing agrarian crisis. Drawing on an extensive period of original field research in northern Portugal, a theory of crisis is put forward, which draws on recent advances in the fields of geography, rural sociology, and development studies. In an in-depth analysis of the Serra do Alvao, the importance of external political economic factors are highlighted. It is argued that traditional agriculture systems have been undermined, and farmers marginalized, without creating the conditions for restructuring and more efficient production. A strategy for economic growth which prioritizes increases in productivity is rejected, in favour of a more flexible approach to development.