No description available.

The village of Villagrande Strisaili, situated in central highlands of the island of Sardinia, Italy, is the subject of this ethnographic study of economic and cultural change. In Part I, a brief historical overview reveals that the pre-war society was largely subsistence based, with shepherding providing milk and cheese to sell on the market for cash. A strict division of labour and responsibilities by sex required mutual dependency of the male and female heads of a household, and supported local notions of gender equality. Part II examines the economic basis of and the restructuring of occupational opportunities in Villagrande today. Although shepherding and subsistence production continue to be important local activities, they are no longer the dominant forms of economic production and secure positions in government offices and institutions are now the preferred occupations. The profound cultural changes of recent decades is the focus of Part III. The notion of local culture, and of a distinctive local identity, is disappearing as cosmopolitan culture becomes localized through local acceptance. Contemporary villagers now create their sense of identity in terms of a wider reality, as defined by the powerful messages of the cosmopolitan system which are efficiently disseminated to villagers through the state educational system and the ubiquitous mass media. These cultural changes have unexpected consequences on the local culture and its reproduction to future generations.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Dev.Studies)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1997.

Northern Botswana's rural agricultural settlements bordering national parks and game reserves. In two study areas (Khumaga and Gweta, bordering Makgadikgadi Pans National Park), spatial, temporal and prey-type patterns of livestock predation were assessed. Cattle, goats, horses, donkeys and sheep were the key livestock types. Lion, leopard, cheetah, wild dog, black-backed jackal, spotted hyena and the Nile crocodile (occurring only in Khumaga) were the key predators. Oral interviews with farmers in these villages provided insights into the patterns and impacts of livestock predation on rural economies. Khumaga's livestock predation scenario is dominated by lion predation on cattle, goats and donkeys, leopard predation on small stock and calves, and crocodile on goats. Wet season predation rates were higher than dry seasons', except for spotted hyena, black-backed jackal and leopard. Leopard and black-backed jackal are dominant small stock predators in Gweta. lion are the main cattle and donkey predators (though at lower frequencies). Dry season predation rates are higher. Farmers who own more livestock appear to lose more Northern Botswana's rural agricultural settlements bordering national parks and game reserves. In two study areas (Khumaga and Gweta, bordering Makgadikgadi Pans National Park), spatial, temporal and prey-type patterns of livestock predation were assessed. Cattle, goats, horses, donkeys and sheep were the key livestock types. Lion, leopard, cheetah, wild dog, black-backed jackal, spotted hyena and the Nile crocodile (occurring only in Khumaga) were the key predators. Oral interviews with farmers in these villages provided insights into the patterns and impacts of livestock predation on rural economies. Khumaga's livestock predation scenario is dominated by lion predation on cattle, goats and donkeys, leopard predation on small stock and calves, and crocodile on goats. Wet season predation rates were higher than dry seasons', except for spotted hyena, black-backed jackal and leopard. Leopard and black-backed jackal are dominant small stock predators in Gweta. lion are the main cattle and donkey predators (though at lower frequencies). Dry season predation rates are higher. Farmers who own more livestock appear to lose more cattle than those who own few. Gweta contrasts with Khumaga, having livestock predation highest during dry seasons, less reduction in livestock sales and a lower value of pending compensation claims. These predation patterns synchronise with movements of zebra and wildebeest to and from the Boteti river. Losses of livestock affect the utility derived from livestock and monetary gains from direct sales. Costs due to loss of biodiversity, though not quantified, add to those borne by the State through predator control. Both the State and the farmers loose. These losses reduce the incentives of the latter to conserve species that contribute reduction in their returns. The issue of State expenditure on predator control illustrates the possible need for re-direction of such funds into farmer-based predator control, much as an integral part of the current southern African trend of community-based natural resource management. Key words: livestock predation, predator control, economics, conservation, Botswana. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1997.

This thesis aims to explore the relationship between the geographies of law, society, economy and the physical environment in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century rural England. It uses as its exploring ground the operation of the Old Poor Law in rural Oxfordshire. This county was chosen because it was both a microcosm of the farming landscape of Southern England and was one of the counties where the problem of poor relief was most acutely felt. Chapter 1 establishes that the mapping out of spatial diversity, and the consideration of the forces moulding it, is fundamental to an understanding of the functioning of the Old Poor Law. Chapter 2 uses data contained in the parliamentary returns to demonstrate some clear regional differences in the level of poor relief and the chronology of change. Chapters 3 and 4 show that these regional averages and trends do not make intelligible the kaleidoscopic welter of local variations indicated by a closer examination of parish records. Chapters 5 and 6 consider poor relief expenditure in four parishes: Cropredy, Pyrton, Spelsbury and Stoke Lyne. These show that differences in the level of poor relief expenditure cannot automatically be taken to indicate variations in the level of what we might think of as unemployment or poverty. The generosity of disbursements, and therefore the real incomes of the poor, could also vary markedly between parishes. Thus, the Old Poor Law cannot be detached from the particular places in which it acquired its meaning and saliency. Its impact upon the daily lives of ratepayers, administrators and recipient can be established and the poor treated as individuals rather than as abstract units of labour.

While most people would agree that economic development is an important goal, and understanding of exactly what "economic development" implies, and how to achieve it, are considerably more elusive. Specifically, this paper addresses the concern about whether very small-scale "grassroots-style" development projects for producers--especially petty artisans--really have the potential to make a positive impact on an ailing economy. A case study of a textile weavers' project in rural northern Chuquisaca, Bolivia, among the Jalq's (Quechua-speaking) ethnic group, is presented in detail. The local-level organizations, known as "workshops", which administer this project are analysed along with economic data from households, in order to determine both the advantages of such a project for rural women weavers, and the project's limitations. The implications of a form of organization in which local-level organizations share administrative duties with a larger support organization--in this case, the Sucre-based Antropologos del Surandino (ASUR)--are also discussed. The gains and potential gains made by weavers and their households as a result of this project are not overwhelming, yet they are valuable steps toward increased empowerment and an expansion of economic and social options for the Jalq'a.

In Telemula, a highland village of Sardinia, Italy, the concept of 'modernity' has been assigned a positive moral meaning which is used in opposition to the concept of 'tradition'. This dissertation examines the phenomenological dimension of strategic repositionings deployed by local people, as they strive to represent themselves as persone brave (good persons). Alternative representations of shepherds carry different moral connotations. Villagers who have to decide whether or not to become, or to continue to be shepherds, also wish to represent themselves positively. Thus, they manipulate the meanings which had been originally ascribed by national and supranational agencies, but that currently form part of the locals' world-views. In consequence, individuals participate in the multiplication of life-worlds and codes of meaning that they use in organising their own perceptions of life events and reflexive experience of self.

"In the main, contemporary research on Evidence Based Practice (EBP) has taken place within metropolitan locations, and has offered urbocentric solutions and insights. However the transferability of these developments to rural services is untested empirically. In addition, evidence development and studies on the implementation of this evidence have tended to be discipline-stream-specific; there has been very little research into either the development of multi-disciplinary evidence guidelines or the implementation of EBP from the perspective of individual practitioners working within multi-disciplinary teams. This research shortfall has provided the rationale for this study...." / Doctor of Philosophy

"In the main, contemporary research on Evidence Based Practice (EBP) has taken place within metropolitan locations, and has offered urbocentric solutions and insights. However the transferability of these developments to rural services is untested empirically. In addition, evidence development and studies on the implementation of this evidence have tended to be discipline-stream-specific; there has been very little research into either the development of multi-disciplinary evidence guidelines or the implementation of EBP from the perspective of individual practitioners working within multi-disciplinary teams. This research shortfall has provided the rationale for this study...." / Doctor of Philosophy