Working Group 2.5

Governing the Local? Rural Power, Rural Needs and RuralPolicy

Convenors:
Emanuela Bozzini, Universitiy of Trento
Petra Derkzen, Wageningen University,
Imre Kovách, Institute for Political Sciences, Budapest, ikovach@mtapti.hu (contact person)
Eva Kucerova; The Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague

Rural power is under transformation. The decline of the agricultural sector has been paralleled by the emergence of new ways of farming and of consumption, of alternative uses of natural resources and multifunctionality. Increasingly, rural territories become institutionalized in multi-level governance structures, not least through the EU Rural Development policy. Taken together, such processes are contributing to the opening up of new sites and opportunities for the resurgence of rural spaces.
In this workshop we aim at putting together scholars with an interest in assessing actors, processes and forms of knowledge driving changes in rural power.  We are calling for theoretical and empirical papers on the following main themes:

1. to identify key actors of rural resurgence and their roles in political and social networks, development projects and activities on community and civil society level.
2. to find what moves and motivates the local people to contribute to the  definition of priorities for rural development.  To find out how needs are articulated, transformed and defined in local, national and supranational political arenas.
3. to explore new forms and conditions of institutionalized engagement in political processes, resource allocation, and development projects, in shaping the conditions of community participation and empowerment.