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Rural communities in Zimbabwe have experienced increased and reinforcing social, natural, economic and political vulnerabilities over the years with far-reaching impacts on livelihoods. Yet current livelihoods theory and inquiry has failed to keep pace in accounting for and analysing the capacity of livelihoods to adequately respond to dynamics in such environments. This study uses the case of a marginal rural community in the Mid-Zambezi Valley area of Dande in northern Zimbabwe to evaluate a ‘resiliency perspective’. This comprises an understanding of four main elements: people’s ability to anticipate and mitigate the effects of adversity; their ability to thrive in a context of change and uncertainty; their capacity to nurture social learning processes; and their ability to self-organise. The study generated four key findings. Firstly, worsening socio-economic and nature-related vulnerability factors have emanated from both the local and national levels. Secondly, these vulnerability factors emanate from the interplay of variables that are both long-term (e.g. increasing drought cycles) and short-term (e.g. deteriorating markets, rapid demographic changes resulting from migration). Thirdly, local community practices, entities and processes are found to assume centrality in responding to worsening vulnerabilities in the area – with individual household opportunities constricting and formal state and non-state entities’ involvement in various livelihood activities either weakening or stopping altogether. Lastly is the emergence of innovative accommodative and negotiation processes among local and national players in livelihoods in the area with respect to addressing some of the vulnerability changes occurring over the years. Following these key findings, five major conclusions are drawn vis-à-vis taking livelihoods analysis forward in the context of contemporary dynamic vulnerability changes as experienced in the study area. Firstly is the need to undertake a holistic analysis of vulnerability factors, patterns and trends in contemporary environments to be able to fully comprehend the nature and development of current vulnerability dynamics and the full effects on livelihoods. Secondly is the need to utilise scale dimensions that allow for the capturing of chains, networks, linkages and flows in analysing livelihood and vulnerability dynamics in contemporary environments as provided for in the resiliency perspective which implicitly advocates for the utilisation of institutional and temporal scale dimensions in analysis. Thirdly is the need for livelihoods inquiry to shift from static, deterministic, single-time frame analyses towards a more dynamic approach to be able to understand and fully capture factors and processes behind the opportunities and constraints for response to both the slow and fast variables of change characterising contemporary vulnerability factors. Fourthly, there should be a shift from the too prescriptive outlook of ideas around the ‘sustainability’ concept central in current livelihoods thinking, towards a realigning of the concept with notions of social justice, place-based dynamics and cultural diversity. This allows for the identification of locally-determined criteria of sustainability and well being, hence making the concept more responsive to analysing and understanding contemporary vulnerability dynamics. Lastly is the need to abandon linear planning vis-à-vis designing development policies and practices in the context of contemporary dynamic vulnerability changes towards engaging more with accommodative processes among local and national actors in livelihoods to be able to adequately address vulnerability processes occurring. Overall, the thesis brings a new resiliency lens into livelihoods analysis, which defines a new frontier to livelihoods theory and research. It also provides evidence in support of approaches to development policy and practice designs that call for the recognition of the centrality of institutions relative to assets; and the attendant path-dependent, context specific and cross-scale negotiation processes in livelihoods in general and in addressing contemporary dynamic vulnerability changes in particular. The thesis also provides new empirical data, comprehensive information and insights on livelihood and vulnerability dynamics in a marginal, remote and relatively under-researched area of Zimbabwe.

No description available.

No description available.

This is a study of people, place, and cultural "identity" in two small parishes that are geographically on the periphery of the United Kingdom. Both are coastal parishes: one is in South-west Wales overlooking the Irish Sea and the other is one of the islands comprising The Orkney archipelago.' This is also a work of marginal anthropology (Fox, 1975) that discusses both conventional and more experimental "ways of telling" in an attempt to interpret human social behaviour.

Investigating the (possible) emergence of a ‘New Squirearchy’ in rural England, this research considers the extent of a practical appropriation of the discourse of the country gentleman within the milieu of a specific community in the South East. A process commonly attributed to the middle class, this study engages with those debates on class and class analysis which continue to play out as a key theme in rural studies, and argues for the incorporation of concepts of performance in providing more nuanced accounts of society in the countryside. Drawing on theories of embodiment as developed in the wider disciplines of sociology and geography, and considering them in direct relation to consumption and cultural capital, this research details the existence of the ‘New Squirearchy’ as a discernable community of practise at work in – and dependent upon – the routine operations of other collectives in rural space. Mapping out the movements of those seeking to fulfil the roles and lifestyle historically accredited to the landed elite in detail, this empirically driven enquiry comes out of an intensive tract of in-situ ethnography. Centred on the act(s) of ‘gentryfication’ in the fabric of ‘village England’ and ‘Eamesworth’ more specifically, this story questions the apparent becoming of the ‘New Squirearchy’ through such institutions as the public house, the Parish Council and the village fete.

This study aims to evaluate Rural Development Policy (RDP) and its ability to meet environmental objectives at European, national and regional levels. Policy evaluation is necessary to assess the processes and impact of policies and programmes to meet desired outcomes, to further ensure accountability of public funds. There a number of evaluation approaches that have varying abilities to examine the variety of interacting policy determinants. This study explores both quantitative and qualitative methods to evaluate the Scottish RDP Rural Priorities scheme performance for the programme period 2007-2013. The Rural Priorities scheme is an important mechanism for achieving environmental objectives through regionalisation. Spatial econometrics, in-depth interviews, and stakeholder power mapping were used to assess policy determinants, such as; farming characteristics, land capability, designated sites status, and accessibility and population as well as less tangible policy aspects such as; policy design, stakeholder power balances, and governance structures. Furthermore these methods were assessed singularly and in collaboration in their abilities to identify strengths and weakness in RDP participatory and environmental performance. This diversity of information contributes to the European Commission funded research project, SPARD (Spatial Analysis of Rural Development), which aims to help policy-makers understand the causal relationships between rural development measures and their consequences in a spatial dimension.

This research examines the sustainability and participatory objectives of the UK’s planning system in a geographical context. It aims to explore the relationships between communities and place, and the connections between national government, local governments and communities in planning processes and outcomes. It also considers the role of planning in shaping places and communities, and how planning endeavours to include communities in decision-making through encouraging participation in community activities. This thesis argues that there is a gap between planning policy and rhetoric and the implementation of policy within specific community contexts. The research is a piece of collaborative research conducted with the planning department at North Devon Council (NDC). Through developing an original empirical case study of data from parishes within North Devon, planning’s sustainability and participatory agendas are examined through the framework of second homes considered a distinct yet related form of tourism (Jaakson, 1986). The research unpicks popular understandings of second homes through quantitative and qualitative research and argues that there are nuanced existences and experiences of second home properties, compounding the difficulty of defining these properties that produce both non-permanent residents and semi- permanent tourists. Exploration of the socio-economic contributions of second homes within host communities suggests that second homes have potential to contribute unsustainable traits, particularly social impacts, to host communities while also having potential to bring positive, predominantly economic, contributions. The empirical research demonstrates that notions of community from resident and policy maker perspectives illustrate that place is not necessary to understanding or experiencing community but has a key role in framing both policy and North Devon residents’ perceptions of community. Through examining the most recent round of democratic renewal in the planning system, issues of power and responsibility within planning functions are reviewed. It argues that the Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition neighbourhood planning obligations reveal a dichotomy between community desire for power and the realism of heightened responsibility.

This research explored the role of community-led initiatives in encouraging the uptake of more sustainable lifestyles within the social and physical context of remote rural Scotland. Participant observation with Arlen Eco Trust (AET) and Thriving Thornton (TT), two community-led sustainability initiatives funded by the Scottish Government’s Climate Challenge Fund (CCF), led to findings which challenge the common assumption that funding for community-led initiatives will be of net benefit at the local level. In line with the requirements of the CCF, both AET and TT define community in terms of geography. However, only a small minority of the members of the geographically-defined communities of Arlen and Thornton were found to be actively involved in the groups’ activities or objectives. Both Arlen and Thornton were observed to be segmented into multiple and diverse ‘communities within communities’ and, rather than representing ‘the community’, AET and TT can more accurately be understood as an example of sub-communities in themselves. This sub-division within the communities was found to be exacerbated by the fact that both the governance and management of AET and TT were observed to be undertaken primarily by individuals regarded as ‘incomers’ to Arlen and Thornton, which resulted in an ‘incomer’ identity being passed on to the group and its activities. Historic connotations with ‘incomers’ as disruptive to traditional ways of life were found to resonate with the suspicion and scepticism expressed by some ‘locals’ wary of ‘incomer’ groups that were actively trying to change local lifestyles. The groups’ ability to engage with the wider geographic community was also observed to be further weakened in several ways by the receipt of government grant funding. The short timescales and expected outputs associated with many funding schemes were found to be discordant with the long-term sustainability goals of the community groups studied, and participation in top-down funding programmes was found to reduce the time and resources available for ‘hands on’ community participation activities. Furthermore, the need for groups to adapt their ambitions and approach to align with top-down demands from funders is incongruent with the notion of a ‘community-led’ initiative. Together, these local conditions were found to have significant implications with respect to the impact and influence of AET and TT. The funding received by the groups was found to create pockets of social capital – rather than being distributed through the geographic community – which served to strengthen the group, but segment the wider population, implying that, rather than increasing local social sustainability, schemes such as the CCF may be undermining it. Overall, this thesis concludes that, whilst the CCF was observed to facilitate community as a means by which to reduce carbon emissions, ‘community’ was not being strengthened as a policy end. As such, it questions whether current mechanisms of central government funding for isolated, self-identified community-led groups to deliver finite, output-driven projects will inherently help to empower geographic communities to adopt more sustainable lifestyles.

Au cœur d'une crise économique, sociale et environnementale, le monde agricole costarmoricain vit une période difficile, depuis quelques années, et essuie les plâtres d'une conjoncture déprimée par les évolutions du marché. Ainsi, à l'orée d'un tournant de l'histoire agricole, la présente étude tend à examiner les facteurs de bien-être professionnel dans un contexte ou l'enjeu est désormais de concilier un grand nombre d'exigences globales et locales au cœur du travail agricole. Au-delà d'une simple profession, le métier d'exploitant agricole s'inscrit dans un système socio-économique qui lui est propre, lui-même composé de sous-systèmes particuliers à la profession agricole. Par conséquent, il se constitue d'un milieu où s'entremêlent de multiples logiques, stratégies, jeux d'acteurs et identités particulières. Dans une perspective compréhensive, ce travail de thèse tend à saisir à travers une modélisation systémique 1'impact des facteurs conjoncturels, structurels et culturels sur les variables de bien-être professionnelles des exploitants agricoles costarmoricains. Ainsi, seront appréhendées les différents éléments constitutifs des variables et facteurs de risques au travail / In the midst of an economie, social and environmental crisis, the costarmoricain' s agricultural world has been going through a very difficult time in the last few years. They pay the priee of a depressed climate due to changes in market. Thus, at a pivotai point in agricultural history, the objective of this study is to examine key factors in the professional well-being within the context of reconciling global and local needs. Beyond a simply profession, the profession of farmer is inscribed in its own socio-economical rule system composed of its own sub-systems. So, the agricultural system consists of many approaches, strategies, players and unique identities. With understanding perspective, this thesis tries to understand the impact of situational, structural and cultural factors on professional well-being of farmer in Armor coast through systems modelling approach. Thus, the varions components of professional variables and risk factors are apprehended