Depopulation Of Villages Research Articles

Inna lokalność

THE OTHER LOCALITY: RETURNS TO THE COUNTRYSIDE IN THE RECENT SPANISH CINEMAThe article concerns returns to rural theme which are characteristic for Spanish cinema of the last decade and can be understood as an expression of the search for a local identity. In many narrations is also present plot motif of the return, connected with stories of characters torn between affection for little homeland and desire or necessity of leaving it. Unlike previous films, images of the country are far removed from idealisation and folkloristic clichés, as well as from black legend about poverty and backwardness, while the specificity of autonomous communities is manifested in regional languages and landscapes. In many stories about local communities directors reveal boarder problems, like changing the character of agricultural areas or depopulation of villages, which applies especially to interior called empty Spain (España vacía). This realistic presentation contrasts with magical realism, which isn’t result of the stranger’s gaze but is connected with specificity of the countryside seen from the perspective of its inhabitants and directors who come from there.

The Impact of Historic Events on the Formation of the Creative Method of Ernest Kontratovych in the Early Period (1930s-1940s)

The article focuses on the early works of Ernest Kontratovych (1912-2009), one of the founders of the cultural and artistic centre in Subcarpathian Ruthenia. His period of creative formation occurred between the 1930s and the 1940s. At that time, Subcarpathian Ruthenia, as part of the Czechoslovak Republic, suffered from the effects of irregular agrarian reform and the Global economic crisis that has affected all of Europe. The mountainous areas of Verkhovyna, where government action and the crisis have led to poverty and famine, have suffered the most. After graduating from the Uzhhorod Singing and Teaching Seminary (1932), Kontratovych was sent to remote villages in mountainous areas for pedagogical work. There he witnessed the events that led to the choice of themes for his early works. Tragedies, such as the depopulation of villages, famine, and impoverishment of the people of Verkhovyna, and resulted in a picturesque series with images of the disadvantaged people, the cripples, the beggars. These experiences made a lasting effect on Kontratovych’s work. He peculiarly interpreted the theme of war. The lack of images of military activity is compensated by images of war victims – the orphaned children, crippled people, beggars. The study examines Kontratovych’s expressionist style in the context of the tasks perceived by the artist as his responsibilities to recreate and convey to the audience the tragedy of the contemporary situation. Exaggeration and deformation of form, as well as displacement of objects, emphasized the emotional intensity of the works. At the same time, he frequently turned to the daily life of the people of Verkhovyna, which created a counterbalance to these dramatic works. Traditional events such as wedding processions, preparations of the bride, and dances are shown in an optimistic, joyful palette in a similarly expressionist style.

Rural tourism as a promising trend of small business in Georgia: Topicality, capabilities, peculiarities

Abstract The article analyses prospects for the development of small tourism business in Georgia, in particular in rural settlements – so-called “rural tourism” (agritourism, farming tourism) which is a fast emerging sector of small entrepreneurship. Capabilities and conditions for the development of rural tourism are examined for different regions of Georgia. As it is noted, there are distinguishing characteristics in each region (natural environment, economic level, traditions of economic management, rules for family farm arrangement, rituals and customs, etc.) which differ regions from each other. Careful consideration is given to the objects which are of interest for agritourists in rural settlements in Georgian regions: Kakheti, mountainous area of Georgia (Svaneti, Racha-Lechkhumi, Mtskheta-Mtianeti), Achara, Guria, Samegrelo, Imereti, Shida and Kvemo Kartli, as well as to the issues of readiness for their acceptance. It is emphasized in the article that the development of rural tourism in the country will promote economic growth in the regions, ensure employment of local people, improve their well-being, and, what is most crucially for mountainous regions, solve pressing demographic problem (depopulation of villages, ageing of population, young people's migration to urban areas, etc.).

Rural Policy of the European Union - Experiences and Lessons for Bosnia and Herzegovina

Summary According to the criteria applied in the EU for the rural areas, Bosnia and Herzegovina is a predominantly rural country. About three-quarters of its territory consists of rural expanses where about half the population lives. One of the biggest structural and development problems of the BiH society today is a rapid decreasing of the rural population (depopulation of villages). Population policy in rural areas should be based on appropriate economic, agricultural, regional, development and cultural policy-bit different from the previous one which squeezed young people out of the village, agriculture and other activities that are successfully developed in the rural areas of developed countries. Since the unemployment rate in Bosnia and Herzegovina climbed to an unacceptably high rate of 42,8% and that the largest number of unemployed are recruited directly or indirectly from rural areas, it is necessary to seek solutions to fully reversed process created and encouraged by many countries, especially those that want to maintain or achieve rapid economic growth.

Depopulation of villages in southeastern Serbia аs hindrance to economic development

Socio-economic data of the villages belonging to the municipality Vladicin Han were analyzed in the paper. This municipality is part of Pcinjski district and is located in southeastern Serbia. The villages have typical rural character and are located in mountain area, except Priboj, which is dislocated in the 19th century. The lowest is Priboj (350-460 m) and the highest one is Kukavica (1,170-1,230 m). The subject of this paper is also the settlements of Lebet, Rdovo and Kostomlatica. The data obtained are the result of processing database retrieved from the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, related to the period 1971-2011. At the beginning of this period, the village with the largest population was Priboj (359 inhabitants). According to the last census (in year 2011), there lived 296 inhabitants with average age of 44. The settlement with the smallest population, according to the latest census, is Kostomlatica village. There live 10 inhabitants with an average age of 76.3 years. Other demographic indicators point to the extinction of the villages in this region. Depopulation is the problem to which state does not pay enough attention, especially in mountainous and border areas. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 47007]

The Present Status and Trends in Development of Agriculture in Apuseni Mountains

The region of Apuseni Mountain has suffered many changes over time, which is due to supra intensive exploitation of the wood mass, depopulation of villages, decreasing the number of livestock and land abandonment. The civilization of villages from „Stone Land” is represented by a specific landscape which includes reliefs forms, the pastoral construction generated by a way of life is seriously threatened by current developments. The purpose of this study was to track the time evolution of the structure of agricultural land, livestock and prospects of the area. The information about agricultural surfaces, livestock ( their evolution in time ) were taken from the Agricultural Registers of Băișoara, Beliș, Călăţele villages,  ( General Urban Plan -1998-2010-2011) , but also from villages records ( 1990-2011) from I.N.S. Cluj. Demographic data necessary for this study were taken from the 1990-2011 Censuses of Population to trace the trend of evolution of the area studied. These data were graphically processed. The results show that during the years 1990-2011, the Băișoara, Beliș, Călăţele villages have occurred important changes in the categories of land use, livestock and degree of depopulation of villages. It was found that over time, the population of the villages taken to be studied ( Băișoara, Beliș, Călăţele ) decreased and therefore changes occurred regarding land use, the number of livestock decreased and pastures are under cargo. The close relationship between the grassland condition and number of animals and degree of intensification of crop systems determines the direction of their evolution.

ABOUT THE CAUSES OF AGRICULTURE CRISIS IN THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

Agriculture of the Republic of Serbia is in the long-term and the multiple crisis: crisis of management, organization crisis, financial crisis, crisis of competitiveness, investment crisis, market crisis, crisis of agricultural policy, crisis of confidence and other forms of crisis. The aim of this paper is to investigate many causes of the limitations of agricultural development of the Republic of Serbia, where the authors specifically point out the following: unfavorable agrarian structure and the lack of organization of farmers; unregulated market of agricultural products; lack of competitiveness; inadequate role of the state; deagrarisation and depopulation of villages. A qualitative method of analysis, synthesis and comparison, as well as supporting quantitative statistical methods were used. Authors concluded that systematic and radical measures and actions are needed at the macro and micro level, in order to overcome a difficult situation in which our agriculture is, as a strategic activity of the Republic of Serbia.

What’s Mine Is Mine(D): Contests Over Marginalisation Of rural life in the Upper Hunter, NSW

Rural life in the Upper Hunter Region of NSW is threatened by the mining and burning of coal and coal seam gas extraction. Extensive open-cut mining is a serious threat to productive rural enterprises between Singleton and Muswellbrook, while mining and gas extraction is expanding into communities on the Liverpool Plains and around Gloucester. The marginalisation of rural life has economic, environmental and sociocultural dimensions. Economically, the marginalisation of rural life refers to declining food production, threatened rural industries such as thoroughbred breeding and viticulture, and to the loss of commercial services in rural towns. Environmental damage includes air and water pollution, biodiversity loss, destruction of aquifers and waterways, and the loss of fertile agricultural land. Socio-cultural impacts include threats to human health, rising income inequality, depopulation of villages, and damage to the fabric of rural communities from mining incursion. The article examines the competing scripts employed in land use contests and how communities are using new and reflexive constructions of ‘the rural’ that integrate traditional identity, discourses of sustainability and the re-centring of rural life. This analysis illuminates the current situation of marginalisation and the possible future of rural life in the Upper Hunter and surrounding areas.

Tourism potentials of the Raska region and development of rural tourism

In order to find solutions for stopping negative economic processes in the Raska region, as well as land reclamation and depopulation of villages, one of the main activities is adequate restructuration of the economy, according to available resources. In this paper we analyze a place of tourism in the Raska region, as an activity to which is not given appropriate developmental role in the previous development policies, as opposed to diverse and attractive natural and anthropogenic values. In the paper we identify the most significant tourism potentials of the Raska region and their evaluation score. Special attention is given to rural tourism as one of the activities that can have a greater role in future plans for demographic and economic revitalization of this area. We analyze the current state of rural tourism in the Raska region, and indicate main limiting factors that prevent rapid development of this, in many ways, primary form of tourism.

Why Did the Palestinians Leave, Revisited

The myth that the Palestinian exodus of 1948 was triggered by orders from the Arab leaders——a cornerstone of the official Israeli version of the 1948 war and intended to absolve it of responsibility for the refugee problem——dies hard. Thus, it continues to be deployed by apologists for Israel as a means of blaming the Palestinians for their own fate. Even Benny Morris, one of whose major conclusions in his 1986 The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem was to discredit the Israeli claim, cannot seem to let go of it completely. Thus, the conclusion of the substantially revised update of the book, The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited (2004), states that although the Arab Higher Committee (AHC) and the local National Committees made efforts to block the exodus of army-aged males, ““at the same time, they actively promoted the depopulation of villages and towns. Many thousands of Arabs——women, children, and old people……left, well before battle was joined, as a result of advice and orders from local Arab commanders and officials……. Indeed, already months before the war the Arab states and the AHC had endorsed the removal of dependents from active and potential combat zones……. There can be no exaggerating the importance of these early, Arab-initiated evacuations in the demoralization, and eventual exodus, of the remaining rural and urban populations”” (pp. 589––90).Given the endurance of this central plank of the Israeli doctrine of 1948, JPS has decided to reprint for the first time a difficult-to-obtain article published in July 1959 by Walid Khalidi in a long-defunct periodical of the American University of Beirut (AUB), Middle East Forum. Entitled ““Why Did the Palestinians Leave? An Examination of the Zionist Version of the Exodus of '48,”” the article was based on a talk Professor Khalidi gave at AUB earlier that year. After tracing the origins and first appearance of the Zionist claim, the article, using AHC and Arab League archival material, Arab and Palestinian press releases and reports, Arab and Haganah radio broadcasts, and other Arab and Israeli sources exhaustively rebuts the claim through showing both what the broadcasts did not say and what they did say. JPS is reprinting the article as is.While the July 1959 article debunks the myth using documents at the national or Arab level, a second article by Professor Khalidi published in December 1959, ““The Fall of Haifa,”” touches on the Arab orders at the local level, an issue equally emphasized by Morris. The article, also published in the Middle East Forum, puts the exodus from the city after the Haganah offensive that led to its capture in April 1948 within the overall military context: Anglo-Zionist collusion, the balance of power, and so on. The article also deals directly with the orders and reproduces the texts of the eleven communiquéés issued by the Haifa National Committee between the UN General Assembly partition decision (November 1947) and the fall of Haifa in April, all of which have bearing on the subject. JPS is reproducing these pages as an appendix but intends to publish ““The Fall of Haifa”” in its entirety at a later date.