Magister Philosophiae (Land and Agrarian Studies) - MPhil(LAS) / This was an original case study that aimed to locate South African post-apartheid rural land social movements within existing theoretical approaches. The land social movements organize around land rights and access for landless people and for those whose land rights are weak or threatened. The study analyzed conditions contributing to the emergence of land social movements in the post-apartheid South Africa and struggle methods they employ, using a case study of the Tenure Security Coordinating Committee in KwaZulu-Natal. / South Africa

This study sought to find out the extent to which decentralisation has brought about development in the rural areas in Malawi, specifically focusing on Salima District Council. It sought the views from the local communities themselves and government officials at district level on decentralisation in relation to rural development. Although the study used both qualitative and quantitative approaches, it was predominantly qualitative. As such, it used mixed methods of data collection, which included in-depth interviews, direct observations, questionnaires, focus group discussions (FGDs) and documentary search. Qualitative data was developed into themes and concepts and was subsequently interpreted in a trustworthy manner so as to reflect the true meaning of the data. In other words, explanations were attached to each theme or concept in an attempt to give the meaning of the data. The study found out that decentralisation is effective in terms of rural development such that local people are able to demand for services of their choice from local governments but the main challenge or constraint is availability of financial resources to cater for all the demanded public services. Other major barriers to rural development include capacity deficiencies at district and grassroots level and tensions among key stakeholders competing to maximize their role in local governments. Basing on these findings, and financial resources being the major barrier to rural development, the study recommends that Government should make sure that enough financial resources are released and channelled to district councils to cater for the needs of the communities. The study also recommends that councils should strive to generate more local revenues to cope up with the demand from the communities. And finally, the study recommends that Government should recognize local governments as entities on which is bestowed a huge responsibility of improving socio-economic conditions of the rural areas where 87 percent of the population lives, therefore provision of resources and enabling legislation to enhance rural development should be the primary focus. Of course, these recommendations should be understood within the context of the studied district. Otherwise there is potential for different and expanded recommendations if one replicated the study to cover the entire country.

Like many North American resource-based rural communities, the Slocan Valley in southeastern British Columbia experienced a decline in its population and economy during the first half of this century. However, in the late 1960s, mainly young, well-educated and often idealistic members of the back-to-the-land movement began to re-settle the area. The influx reached its peak in the mid 1970s, and at a diminished level, continues. Currently this group of recent settlers comprises approximately one-quarter of the valley's population of 5000. Drawing on data from participant observation in the area and personal interviews with members of this influx, this thesis first examines why and how these people came to settle in the Slocan. It finds that they moved for many different reasons: repelled by the "rat-race" and pollution of the cities, and the violent politics of the 1960's; or attracted by the prospects of a personally-meaningful and satisfying existence in the country-side. Whether driven by an individualistic or visionary quest, all subscribed to some extent to a back-to-the-land ideology which advocated a low-consumption, but highly diverse, lifestyle - close to nature and in touch with the land, independent politically and economically from the larger society, and in a community of like-minded rural neighbours. Secondly, the thesis traces the evolution of personal lifeways and the development of community life in the twenty years since the resettlement began. As the newcomers encountered difficulties living in the Slocan they made compromises. As a result, their lifestyles are no longer as clearly "alternative" and most have reentered the "system" to some degree. Increasingly though, their values have found expression in specific causes, issues or projects which have altered the course of evolution of the Slocan, and left a lasting legacy of concrete accomplishments and changed attitudes within the larger geographic community. The settlers’ impact has been particularly noticeable in issues regarding land and resource use, the diversification of the regional economy, and attempts to attain local political autonomy. Finally, the thesis attempts to assess the significance of the back-to-the-land movement to the Slocan, and then to society as a whole. The Slocan in the 1990s is at a bifurcation point, and must choose its destiny from a range of divergent, and often conflicting, alternatives. Whether the area pursues a sustainable path, in which the viability of the local community and integrity of the environment are protected and enhanced, depends largely on which of the two competing ideologies (industrial versus post-industrial) currently represented in the Slocan prevails. In this regard, the Valley is a microcosm of the broader society: the experiences there show where both the opportunities and impediments lie in our search for a truly sustainable society. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

This is an anthropological study of peasant economy and culture, derived from field research on patterns of social organization and production of two ethnically different rural communities (Han and Mosuo) in northwest Yunnan, China. Its aim is to explore the local contexts for understanding the changes that recent economic reforms have brought to peasant life, and the cultural as well as ecological factors that constrain peasant economic activities. Current economic reforms have been accompanied by institutional changes, of which the most important for this research is the change in political relations between local and central governments. The expansion of local autonomy has had significant implications for the management of resources. The study shows that the behavior of the two local governments has had remarkably different economic consequences. The most noteworthy policy change in the economic reforms affecting rural society has been the implementation of the household responsibility system which brought down the twenty-year old collective system and has since altered the economic landscape of the countryside. This study emphasizes how kinship systems affect the form of household organization in both Han and Mosuo communities, and how existing social relationships are manifest in economic activities. "Rice Ears" and "Cattle Tails" are images drawing attention to the culturally salient differences in the patterns of production of the two communities. Rice ears constitute a cultural image of subsistence security in the Han community; and cattle tails constitute a cultural image of prosperity and development in the Mosuo community. Apart from the ecological factors which give rise to the particular patterns of livelihood in each community, cultural values associated the particular pattern of production account for many of the economic choices of the peasants and the persistence of economic forms. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

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In this study, county level data for three time periods (1970, 1985, and 1989) are examined to determine the factors affecting the distribution of primary care physicians in rural counties of Virginia. Consistent predictors of proportions of physicians to the population were identified: golf holes per capita and the ratio of hospital beds to population were the most consistent predictors. Per capita income and the elderly population were only significant for some of the years. Variables deemed to be controllable by the community (in the short run) were generally more consistent in predicting the proportions of physicians to population. Policy implications are discussed, and several strategies for improving access to health care in rural areas, thus altering the massive imbalance in physician to population ratio in urban and rural areas are suggested. / Master of Science

Set in i le Jesus, just north of the island of Montreal, this thesis has a two-fold objective: to study the problem of the growth of agricultural production and to analyse the structure and the evolution of Canadian rural society in the eighteenth century. / The study proceeds in five stages. In order to determine what factors govern agricultural production, prevailing economic circumstances, land distribution and the system of production are examined in succession. Next, the inquiry turns to inheritance customs and peasant estates, with the aim of measuring the economic hierarchy within the peasantry, determining its nature and explaining its dynamics. / The study concludes that the slow growth of agricultural production stems essentially from limitations on production resulting from the productive framework of the family farm and the system of inheritance. On the one hand, at each generation, this system pushed the majority of young peasants out to the fringes of settlement, where they could not produce surpluses. On the other hand, it slowed down the development of older, settled land by requiring the sons who established themselves on it to recompense their co-heirs. / Moreover, the analysis of peasant estates reveals the existence of an economic hierarchy among the peasantry, a hierarchy that persists over time. The study shows that well-to-do peasants generally benefitted from early access to cleared land through inheritance. As inheritance customs were relatively egalitarian, these privileged peasants were mainly the sons of families sufficiently well-off to establish all or most of their heirs comfortably. This initial advantage becomes particularly decisive once the market for agricultural products becomes more active. One can therefore conclude that even if inheritance customs imply a certain redistribution of family property, they do not equalize peasant society at each generation.