Working Group 1.3

Globalization and Rural Europe: Social, Economic and Cultural Impacts

Convenors:
Michael Woods, Aberystwyth University m.woods@aber.ac.uk
Birte Nienaber, Universität des Saarlandes b.nienaber@mx.uni-saarland.de
John McDonagh, National University of Ireland, Galway john.mcdonagh@nuigalway.ie

The influence of globalization in shaping the structural characteristics of rural localities and the lives of the people that live in them is now pervasive across Europe, although the impacts are not necessarily homogenous. The challenges presented by globalization have been recognized by the European Union as standing at “the heart of the EU policy agenda”, and in a rural context the Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner, Mariann Fischler Boel, has observed that these challenges “apply not only to farming but also to the rural economies, landscapes and societies in which that farming activity takes place.” Yet, we have at present only a limited evidence base for examining how globalization processes work in practice to transform rural localities; how the impact of globalization varies spatially between rural regions and localities; and how rural localities develop the capacity to respond to the challenges and opportunities of globalization.

The working group will draw together evidence from different regions across Europe to stimulate a discussion around these questions. The working group defines globalization in broad terms, as a hybrid phenomenon comprising diverse social, economic, cultural and political processes. As such, papers are invited that address globalization impacts around a variety of themes, including but not restricted to:

• Economic processes, including the globalization of trade, the actions of transnational corporations, and the adoption of adjustment strategies including deregulation and liberalization.
• Social processes, including patterns associated with the globalization of mobility such as international labour migration, transnational counterurbanization, foreign property purchases, and globalized tourism.
• Cultural globalization processes, including the repackaging of rural commodities and cultures for globalized consumption, and the impact of the globalization of values on animal welfare and environmental management issues.

The working group is linked to an EU Framework Programme 7 project on ‘Developing Europe’s Rural Regions in the Era of Globalization’ (DERREG). Early findings from the DERREG research will be presented in the working group by members of the consortium, but wider contributions are invited and encouraged to position the research in a broader context and develop collaborative engagement around its themes. It is intended that the working group will be followed-up by a second working group at the 2011 ESRS Congress focused on responses to globalization in rural development policy and practice