You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
In most countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, the fall of communism opened up the possibility for individuals to acquire land. Based on Katherine Verdery's extensive fieldwork between 1990 and 2001, The Vanishing Hectare explores the importance of land and land ownership to the people of one Transylvanian community, Aurel Vlaicu. Verdery traces how collectivized land was transformed into private property, how land was valued, what the new owners were able to do with it, and what it signified to each of the different groups vying for land rights. Verdery tells this story about transforming socialist property forms in a global context, showing the fruitfulness of conceptuali...
Projecting win-win situations, new economic opportunities, green growth and innovative partnerships, the green economy discourse has quickly gained centre stage in international environmental governance and policymaking. Its underlying message is attractive and optimistic: if the market can become the tool for tackling climate change and other major ecological crises, the fight against these crises can also be the royal road to solving the problems of the market. But how ‘green’ is the green economy? And how social or democratic can it be? This book examines how the emergence of this new discourse has fundamentally modified the terms of the environmental debate. Interpreting the rise of ...
This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Sustainable Agriculture–Beyond Organic Farming" that was published in Sustainability
Land reform is a key factor in determining the political, economic and social future of the transitional states of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. This book represents the first major study in this area. Utilizing extensive field work, unpublished materials, statistical data and interviews with land reform officials, the contributors explore the key issues.
From the Abstract: This volume examines the reforms and policy changes necessary in the rural sectors or the ten countries that have started the accession process for eventual membership in the European Union (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia). The papers in this volume are selected from the presentations at the Third World Bank/FAO EU Accession Workshop held in Sofia, Bulgaria, on June 17-20, 2000, and are organized around four topics: (i) defining the concepts of rural development-options for EU accession candidate countries; (ii) rural development in the European Union; (iii) rural development in Central and Eastern Europe; and (iv) international experiences and the role of international organizations in supporting rural development in the EU accession candidate countries. This volume is intended for agricultural policy makers and government officials in the candidate countries, EU officials, World Bank and FAO staff, development scholars, and all others interested in the process of rural development in Central and Eastern Europe.
"In 2000 the book Robotic Milking, reflecting the proceedings of an International Symposium which was held in The Netherlands came out. At that time, commercial introduction of automatic milking systems was no longer obstructed by technological inadequacies. Particularly in a few west-European countries, systems were being installed at an increasing rate. However, it was recognised that the changeover from 'traditional' to automatic milking affected the farming operation, herd management and control of milk quality profoundly and that many of the implications were still unknown. So, new challenges in various fields of dairy farming and new research areas emerged. Since this previous Internat...
Eastern European societies underwent large-scale deprivations of property by the authoritarian regimes, beginning after World War II, largely ending with the last waves of the kolkhoz movement in the early 1960s. Kuti examines property reparations that took place after 1989, from the perspective of constitutional justice, the rule of law, but also from the point of view of identity politics. A controversial and at times contentious issue is tackled here, effecting people's lives and material situations drastically whilst touching upon the raw nerves of history. Kuti compares property restitution schemes in the Baltic States, Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. Argues that the aims of compensation and reparation were coupled with goals of structural reform. Provides an international perspective, through extensive reference to the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, as well as to some other jurisdictions confronted with indigenous peoples' claims. The inquiry concludes that the ideals of rule of law and justice cannot lead to consistent solutions in this problem, and the presence of an imperfect theorization is demonstrated.
This comparative history investigates rural communities in six east-Central Europe countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. Most of them experienced in the 1990s the fourth radical restructuring of agricultural relations of the twentieth century, and, more challengingly, an historically unprecedented trajectory from socialism to capitalism. The author considers similarity and difference in the linked processes of breathing real democratic life into the structures of local democracy and recreating farming structures and non-agricultural businesses based on private ownership and private enterprise.
This book assesses China’s reputation as a global clean energy champion, and applies institutional and public policy theories to explain how the country has achieved so much and why there continue to be so many unintended consequences and constraints to progress. It considers the extent to which the government has successfully boosted the manufacture and deployment of low-carbon electricity generating infrastructure, cleaned up thermal power generation, and enhanced energy efficiency, dramatically constraining China’s rising carbon dioxide emissions, but also examines the substantial political and financial capital required to reinforce the predominantly administrative policy instruments and the mix of special interests and poor coordination that are endemic to the energy sector. Arguing that the current approach seems to be encountering ever diminishing returns, the book considers whether ongoing sector reforms and the new national emissions trading scheme can reinvigorate the nation’s clean energy trajectory.
The 21st century could see the switch from the fossil fuel to the biological based economy. Papers presented in this conference proceedings explore the questions involved.