Uneven development in European mountain communities

Abstract

This article deals with some aspects of the relationship between mountain communities and their natural environment, as well as their social, political, and economic interactions with other mountain and lowland communi? ties and institutions. Specific examples are drawn from six mountain communities in three European mountain areas - the Alps, the Carpathians and the Caucasus [1]. The analysis employed here is designed to further an understanding of village communities in European mountain areas and it is hoped that it will acquire wider applicability. This anal? ysis makes use of concepts developed primar? ily from Marxist-inspired research in the Third World. Specifically, I will make use of the concept of "uneven development" [2]. Although the multicausal perspective used here takes into account the relative effects of the mountain environment, relative isolation, poor soils, and cold climate, primary emphasis is put on the decisive role of the centers of economic and political power located in the lowlands. A historical view is adopted because the relationship between environment and people, both in the mountains and lowlands, has been steadily changing over time. To show the complexity of this process, I am using the methodological tool of comparison. For the purpose of this discussion, two communities with different characteristics were chosen from each mountain area [3]. The data on which this analysis is based were obtained by intensive field research combined with archi? val study and the use of other documentary evidence. The Caucasian case may give an im? pression of lesser comprehensiveness mostly due to short periods of fieldwork and scarcity of literature. An analysis of the development of eco? nomic, political and ideological relations in the respective regions and countries of which the mountain communities under study are a part has been undertaken. Due to my com? pact presentation some historical processes are unavoidably discussed in a simplified way. It goes without saying that mountain en? vironments put similar constraints on their inhabitants all over the world. Poor soils, cold climate, the nature of precipitation, and especially the isolation of mountain com? munities from the lowland centers have been