Farmers in remote rural areas: The worth of permanence in the place

Abstract

The drivers of change in rural economies and societies in the global north and their different presentations at the place level are commonly recurring topics in recent rural studies.In this context, it is possible to discuss the concept of rural resilience associated with the combination of processes of restructuring and resistance. Restructuring implies different processes of change, and resistance suggests permanence. Change and permanence have different forms of presentation: place-spatial, community and individual.In this context, the present study examines the strategies of farmers in selected remote rural areas of Spain; with the purpose of exploring the different processes of adaptation at an individual level, founded on economic and non-economic (moral) decisions. The methodology is mainly qualitative: biographical interviews with farmers living in remote rural areas.