Socio-economic differentiation and shea globalization in western Burkina Faso: integrating gender politics and agrarian change

In this paper, we examine the way a local manifestation of the globalization process, the boom in the shea trade in western Burkina Faso, has fueled socio-economic differentiation in shea activity as part of a wider differentiation process. We refer to the gender politics and agrarian change literatures to inform both within- and across-household mechanisms of differentiation. We analyze both the mechanisms of change and the resulting inequalities. Our results reveal the interplay between multiple drivers of change, and nuance the analysis of the winners and losers of globalization of shea activity.     

The Greying Periphery—Ageing and Community Development in Rural Romania and Bulgaria

The impact of ageing on community well-being has been part of the policy discourse in the West, but it is a relatively new problem for the post-socialist countries in Eastern Europe. This study focuses on the patterns of ageing in rural Romania and Bulgaria, offering a holistic view of vulnerabilities, including persistent rural disadvantages, ageing in the countryside and the post-socialist transformation. Aggregate statistics and community case studies reveal the links between demographic processes and community development. This paper contributes to the country-specific analysis of the ageing European periphery in the context of social cohesion as a fundamental European goal.     

Peru: Letters from Shepherds’ union bulletin

Peasants And Poverty, A Study of Haiti by Mats Lundahl. London: Croom Helm; New York: St Martin's Press; 1979. Pp. 699; £19.95

Rural Sociology in the Soviet Union. Its History and Basic Concepts by Terence M. Cox: London: C. Hurst &; Co., 1979. Pp. 106, £7.50.

Peasant Farming in Muscovy by R. E. F. Smith. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977. Pp. xii + 289, 11 plates. £10.50

Rural Rebels: A Study of Two Protest Movements in Kenya by A. Wipper, Nairobi, London, New York: Oxford University Press, 1978. Pp. xiv + 363. £7.25.

Food Aid and the Developing World by Christopher Stevens, London: Croom Helm, 1979. Pp. 224. £9.95

Research in Economic Anthropology: a research annual Volume 2, edited by George Dalton. Connecticut: Jai Press Inc., 1979, Pp. xi + 390.     

What Makes Them Successful? Influential Interest Groups in Hungary (1990–2014)

Although many scholars of Central and Eastern Europe politics write about the relative weaknesses of civil societies, some studies delivered evidence of cases where interest groups were able to influence particular decisions and policies. Therefore, we aimed at identifying and examining the most influential national interest groups of eight different policy areas in post-communist Hungary hoping to explore the reasons for their success. Older generations of organisations benefit from political embeddedness, while newer advocacy groups rely more on legal instruments and public mobilisation. The operation of successful groups has not been affected by the strong political polarisation of the Hungarian party system.