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Publications > Cahiers (English)> N° 80, 3rd term 2006


COMPTES RENDUS DE LECTURE
F. Ascher, Le mangeur hypermoderne, une figure de l'individu éclectique, by A. Lhuissier format PDF ; G. Anania, M.E. Bohman, C.A. Carter, A.F. McCalla, Agricultural Policy Reform and the WTO: Where Are We Heading?, by L. Brink format PDF ; P. Donnadieu, M. Périgord, Clés pour le paysage, by Y. Michelin format PDF

Productivité agricole et rattrapage technologique : le cas des exploitations de grandes cultures du Nord-Pas-de-Calais
[Catching-up effect in agricultural productivity: The case of arable farms in Nord-Pas-de-Calais]

Stéphane BLANCARD *, Jean-Philippe BOUSSEMART ** (* CERESUR, Université de La Réunion, 15 avenue René-Cassin, BP 7151, 97715 Saint-Denis-Messag cedex 9 - e-mail : stephane.blancard@univ-reunion.fr. ** GREMARS, Université de Lille 3 - Charles-de-Gaulle, BP 60149, 59653 Villeneuve-d’Ascq cedex et GRECAT ISA-Lille, 48 boulevard Vauban, 59046 Lille cedex -e-mail : jean-philippe.boussemart@univ-lille3.fr)

In : Cahiers d'Economie et Sociologie Rurales, n° 80, 2006, pp 5-28

Summary – One of the principal objectives of successive reforms of the CAP has been to increase the exposure of
European agriculture to market forces. As a result, the search for competitiveness has become a major preoccupation for farmers. The poorest performers must catch up with the most efficient ones through the progressive adoption of best practice. Our research sought to reveal and measure these possible convergence phenomena in a study of 178 arable farms in the same region (Nord-Pas-de-Calais). The study analyses data from 1994 to 2001, a period encompassing the Mac Sharry reform and the first measures of Agenda 2000. From estimates of total factor productivity based on a distance function, our results clearly indicate evidence of catch up between the farms, through increased technical and scale efficiencies.

Key-words : agriculture, catch-up process, distance function, production technology, total factor productivity.

The contribution of rural community businesses to integrated rural development: "Local services for local people"

Tony GORE *, Ryan POWELL *, Peter WELLS * (* Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research, Sheffield Hallam University, City Campus, Howard Street, Sheffield S1 1WB, UK - e-mail: t.gore@shu.ac.uk, r.s.powell@shu.ac.uk)

In : Cahiers d'Economie et Sociologie Rurales, n° 80, 2006, pp 29-52

Summary – Policy responses to the problems facing rural areas across Europe have involved the replacement of “productivist” measures that subsidise agriculture to strategies promoting “integrated rural development”, emphasising the interconnections between various facets of the rural economy. Thus farm modernisation and product processing and marketing are linked with the promotion of a more diversified economic base centred on tourism and recreation and the maintenance of services for local residents. An essential element of this model is its reliance on collaborative actions involving a range of community or civil society actors. This paper examines the extent to which the operation of community-owned businesses in rural parts of the Yorkshire and Humber region in the UK corresponds to these ideals of integrated rural development. Evidence is presented on their geographical footprint with respect to both direct economic impacts and linkages with social and institutional networks. This allows an assessment to be made of the contribution that such enterprises make to rural economic development as a whole. The conclusion is that they do have the potential to assist integrated rural development, but only as a small part of a much wider series of economic, social and environmental actions.

Key-words : integrated rural development, rural community businesses, economic impacts, geographical footprint,
volunteering.

Public participation in environmental decision-making: A case study of ecosystem restoration in South Florida

Laura OGDEN * (* Department of Sociology/Anthropology, University Park Campus, Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33199, United States - e-mail : ogdenl@fiu.edu)

In : Cahiers d'Economie et Sociologie Rurales, n° 80, 2006, pp 53-73

Summary – The “ecosystem” is the conceptual model guiding environmental restoration projects in the Florida Everglades, a large wetlands region in the southern United States. According to applied ecological frameworks, ecosystems are geographies (of various temporal and spatial scales) where systemic interrelationships of organisms and habitat occur. With current project estimates at 14.8 billion dollars, ecosystem restoration in South Florida represents one of the largest and most expensive environmental projects ever attempted. In this article, I provide an overview of the changes to the Florida Everglades which have led to the need for restorative interventions. I then outline the conceptual framework guiding ecosystem management in South Florida, focusing on the transformation of this framework that occurs through its institutionalization into a set of management and planning practices. The article ends with a discussion of how the “public” is conceptualized within this institutionalized ecosystem management framework, and the ramifications of this conceptualization for Everglades restoration public engagement activities.

Key-words : ecosystem, public participation, Everglades (Floride).

Cesser de s'alimenter pour contraindre une autorité : la grève de la faim comme pratique protestataire
[Fasting as a means to constraining an authority]

Damien LECARPENTIER *(* Institut Marcel Mauss - CEMS/EHESS, 54 boulevard Raspail, 75006 Paris et Université de Marne-la-Vallée - e-mail : damienlecarpentier@yahoo.fr)

In : Cahiers d'Economie et Sociologie Rurales, n° 80, 2006, pp 75-92

Summary – The origins of hunger striking can be traced in pre-Christian Ireland and in Ancient India, where this practice was often used as a legal ritual put upon a person from a higher rank to recover a debt. However, it is mainly from the 20 th century that this way of protest developed throughout the world, under the influence of incarcerated Irish Republicans and the public fasts held by Gandhi. Though the situations denounced by this form of protest vary considerably, this paper shows that there is a link between the form of protest and its content. More than a mere denunciation of an injustice, hunger strike is also a means of highlighting a feeling of contempt held by the striker who cannot make his case and his voice heard. By fasting to death, the striker draws a parallel between his action and the situation he is enduring and shows that his suffering through the fast is somehow equivalent to the suffering due to the lack of consideration he has had. Hunger strike can therefore be seen as a means to testify this suffering and to authenticate the legitimacy of the striker’s claim. Hunger strike is also a powerful weapon as it allows the striker to embroil the authorities in a moral standoff where they are presented as accountable, before the public opinion, not only for the situation he is highlighting but also for the outcome of his fast as the key of the initiative is transferred to the authorities. Forced to answer, the authorities may try to counter the accusation. By taking the 1981 hunger strike as a central example, this paper finally shows the means authorities can use to deflect the burden of responsibility and to weaken the strike’s moral power.

Key-words : hunger strike, fasting, protest, Irish republicans, consideration, contempt.
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