Ideological change and settlement continuity in the French countryside: the development of agricultural syndicalism in Loir-et-Cher during the late-nineteenth century

The development and spread of new ideas within rural France during the late-nineteenth century was essentially effected within an old pattern of rural settlements. In general, this paper considers the basic dichotomy between nucleated and dispersed settlements and its influence on the spatial patterning of a particular rural ideology, agricultural syndicalism. It also examines the role of the basic conflict between urban and rural attitudes in the transformation of ideas about the organization of agricultural activity. More specifically, this paper analyses the relationships between the clustering of populations, proximity to urban centres, literacy levels and the spatial diffusion of agricultural syndicalism in Loir-et-Cher during the late-nineteenth century. It concludes that the character of rural settlements was not a directly moulding influence on the spread of agricultural syndicalism, that the transformation of rural ideologies was essentially achieved under urban influence and that generalizations about agricultural syndicalism applicable at one scale are not necessarily applicable at another scale.