Mapping the Rural Problem in the Baltic Countryside: Transition Processes in Rural Areas of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania(Perspectives on Rural Policy and Planning)

The stream of information concerning post-socialist countries is increasing all the time: it is being produced by the countries themselves for their own uses, by the EU as well as by various international institutions. However, there is still a need for more rigorous academic research with a sound theoretical and critical orientation. The present volume has been written and compiled in this academic spirit. The articles in this volume deal with different aspects of post-socialist transition in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, including agriculture and agricultural companies, industrial enterprises and other kinds of businesses, civil society, as well as some special issues such as poverty and problems in rural communities. Many of the research findings provide a foundation for a critical analysis of the transition policies practised, perhaps even beyond the Baltic countries. All of the articles except one were written primarily in connection with the research project 'The Decollectivization of Agriculture in the Baltic Countries from a Psychological and Sociological Point of View,' financed by the Academy of Finland. However, since the writing and editing of the articles has taken quite a long time, work from another research project financed by the same institution - focusing on poverty in rural areas - is also reflected herein.

Table of Contents:
List of Figures vii; List of Tables viii; List of Contributors xi; Foreword xiii; 1 Rural Problematics in the Baltic Countries Ilkka Alanen 1; 2 The Transformation of Agricultural Systems in the Baltic Countries - A Critique of the World Bank's Concept Ilkka Alanen 5; 3 Rural Communities in the Baltic States and Post-Communist Transition Rein Ruutsoo 59; 4 Constructing Capitalist Firms: Former Socialist Industrial Complexes and their Struggle for Survival Jouko Nikula 109; 5 Networks, Skills and Trust: The Necessary Ingredients of Rural Entrepreneurship in the Baltic Countries? Jouko Nikula 127; 6 From Agriculture to Tourism: Constructing New Relations Between Rural Nature and Culture in Lithuania and Finland Leo Granberg 159; 7 Trends in Development in Lithuanian Agricultural Policy Donatas Stanikunas, Irena Krisciukaitiene, Romualdas Zemeckis 179; 8 Means of Subsistence and Welfare in a Small Rural Community in South Estonia Raija-Liisa Kamarainen 203; 9 Rural Community Initiatives in the Latvian Countryside Talis Tisenkopfs, Sandra Sumane 219; 10 The Adjustment of the Elderly to Socio-Economic Change in Rural Estonia Leeni Hansson, Marjatta Marin 249; 11 The Significance of the Research Results Ilkka Alanen 269; Annex Tables and Figures 273