MORE THAN ONE WAY TO STUDY A BUILDING: APPROACHES TO PREHISTORIC HOUSEHOLD AND SETTLEMENT SPACE

Summary.   This article reviews a number of research methodologies used to record household and settlement architecture and assesses their value in the investigation of the human use of prehistoric built space. It exemplifies, through case studies, five broad approaches to, and research techniques associated with, the investigation of such architecture. These approaches are: architectural form; the spatial distribution of activities; continuity and standardization; the relationship between built and non-built space; and human patterns of movement. Then, drawing mainly on Near Eastern, and particularly Anatolian, material, it shows how a sixth approach, the use of ethnographic observation and analogy, provides insights into functional and seasonal variations in spatial use, patterns of movement and social organization. It identifies seven categories of data collection and nine observations drawn from the ethnographic material which together provide an investigative and interpretative framework for the study of early farming communities in the Near East and elsewhere.     

New countryside,old peasants? Politics,tradition and modernity in rural France

Since the publication of the volume Rural Studies in Britain and France (1990) by P. Lowe and M. Bodiguel, ‘la ruralitéfrançaise’ has become the object of intense scrutiny and has emerged as a political field where questions of national and collective identity, traditions, history, landscapes, the past and future of French society have all been debated. In the introduction to that volume, the editors declared: ‘The countryside and rural society, their past, present and future, are major preoccupations in Britain and in France. The urbanisation of the two nations has in no way diminished this interest; if anything, it has sharpened it. With the bulk of economic and social activity concentrated in towns and cities, the countryside has come to embody largely a cultural interest in both countries’, something that has been borne out by recent events. This special issue devoted to ‘Politics, tradition and modernity in rural France’ is the first issue of Modern & Contemporary France to be dedicated to a discussion of topics surrounding la question agricole. The recent publication of a short dossier on French agriculture in the journal French Politics, Society and Culture pointed the way to a number of the debates examined in the following articles about the past and the future of rural France, especially in the context of a more globalised and Europeanised economy.     

Rural France in Europe: new challenges

This article examines the specificity of rural France in Europe and assesses the nature of the new challenges confronting it. Discussing the changes affecting the peasant world and French rural society, it aims to provide a balanced picture of the agricultural question by linking it to the issue of ruralité. Rural France has now become an object of debate not only for French society, but also for the future of European agriculture. The article also analyses to what extent France remains original in its position as the most ‘rural’ of the western European states by examining its relationship to its territoire and its integration into a global economy.     

Peripheral Visions? A Cross-cultural Study of Rural Youths' Views on Migration

This study sets out to investigate anticipatory views concerning out-migration amongst rural youth. Utilising three age-group samples from rural Norway, Scotland and Sweden, young people were classified as prospective 'stayers', 'leavers' or 'returners'. Both qualitative and quantitative data show that 'stayers' see themselves as most contented with rurality. 'Leavers' are most negative to rural living. 'Returners', though also critical about rural living, are highly positive towards social relations in their communities. Furthermore, national and gender differences are evident. These varying adolescent constructions of rurality are discussed in relation to possible national policies.