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Proceedings of a conference held at the University of Kent, 11th and 12th October 2008There has been, in recent years, a quickening of interest in the condition of Italy and state of those who lived there during the Roman republic. The diverse nature of the evidence, both historical and archaeological, has stimulated scholarly debate. New techniques and ideas are being brought to bear on old questions with interesting results. The papers in this volume, by both historians and archaeologists, are a contribution to the debate. They look at Italy and Rome from an Italian as well as from a Roman perspective. Dogmatism has been avoided in order to present different viewpoints and individual perspectives. Out of such diversity there eventually comes progress in understanding.A wide range of topics will be found scrutinised and discussed here. Issues covered include villas, the ager publicus and agriculture, Italian participation in Roman politics, Roman agricultural writers and some of the methodological problems our evidence poses.

This volume represents the continuation of the initiative and vision of the Agricultural History Society of Ireland (AHSI) in publishing on topics related to rural and agricultural developments in Ireland. It marks their contribution to the Irish national discourse during the Irish ‘decade of commemorations'. Contributors to this volume include established academics and early career researchers.The volume fills many gaps in scholarship in a number of key areas of Irish rural history. In chapters discussing and assessing the divergent political aspirations of rural communities, the refocusing of agricultural education during this period of change, social and political transition of the largely rural population, and analysis of cultural positioning of Ireland pre and post revolution, this book will appeal to anyone with an interest in agricultural and rural matters as well as students of Irish history.

The rural reforms in many post-soviet countries produced a number of unintended consequences. The reforms were guided by ideals of romanticized society of family farmers; they were to be the basis of the rural middle-class, together with owners of non-agricultural SME's, acting as guardians of democracy and common good. The guidelines were set by advisers from World Bank and IMF, who preferred family farms or individual farms over the collective enterprises. In most countries the result was nothing like those envisaged by reformers. Instead of efficient and productive family farms, the result was almost complete de-capitalization of agriculture and collapse of production. The reform was destructive not only as far as production is concerned, but more importantly to rural communities. Social ties, which were based on the collective farm as the main economic and social resource for local community, were eroded. Only from the turn of this decade some early stages have been visible of new developments in economic and social life in post-socialist rural areas. The result is that now, more than fifteen years since the beginning of agricultural reforms, the key agricultural producers in Russia, Baltic countries and elsewhere are very large capitalist farms or large agricultural holding companies.This anthology is based on the presentations given at the 5th Aleksanteri Conference 10 – 11 November 2005 in Helsinki, Finland, and it is devoted to the analysis of some of these issues. The volume is divided into two parts, in the first part the focus is on the patterns and problems of transformation of post-socialist agriculture and agricultural policies while the second part is focuses mainly on efforts to revitalize rural communities and issues of local development.

There is a great deal of controversy and debate on land acquisition and transactions concerning the economic development of India, particularly the rural parts of the country. This book explicates, from a sociological perspective, the effect of increasing land transactions on social mobility, based on a detailed study of selected villages in Lucknow, India. It argues that villages in modern India, particularly those close to cities, are no longer simple and integrated communities, but are, rather, more heterogeneous, complex and mobile, as a result of urban expansion and globalization. It contextualises land transactions in a political economic model, describing in detail the differential relationship between land and the state from ancient times to the present day, noting the different laws relating to land and their implications for rural life.

India is among the fastest developing countries of the world. However, a major percentage of its population (60 to 70%) still depends on agriculture and its allied activities. Though many policies have been introduced to enhance its agriculture sector, it still faces a lot of challenges. In recent times the state of Andhra Pradesh, one of the major food grain producing states, has had the highest number of farmer suicides in the country, with Warangal witnessing the highest number amongst the districts in the state. This book attempts to figure out the various socio-economic reasons behind the agrarian crisis prevailing in that district and suggests some remedies to control the situation.

The study focuses upon the process of land alienation going on since the colonial period, the skewed patterns of socio-economic development in the tribal area after independence and the resulting political movements in Andhra Pradesh, South India. The existing literature shows that majority of the studies on tribes in Andhra Pradesh, South India have focused upon the sociological or anthropological aspects of tribal life, their exploitation or upon the leadership, strategy and tactics of the Naxalite movements, while ignoring the basic underlying causes. The processes of land alienation, due to the entry of non-tribals, commoditization of land, introduction of cash crops etc., which began under the feudal and oppressive Nizam State in Andhra Pradesh, South India. Further, our book tries to look at the policies of the colonial state that has been examined in detail and provide a background to the post colonial situation. It also shows that after independence, the land transfer regulation act, and the various developmental programmes introduced into the tribal area, has not yielded significant results. A detailed survey reveals that landlessness, unemployment, poverty and increasing social alienation from hostility towards non-tribals is increasing in these regions. It is these factors that underlie them often violent political movement in the pre and post independence movement which have been described in detail in our book. The study concludes that unless tribal lands and economy are protected, and a pattern of development better suited to their way of life is introduced, tribal oppression and movements keep on arises further in any backward regions.Our book hopes to fill this gap by establishing inter-linkages in socio-economic conditions of the tribal population of Andhra Pradesh, South India. Our book is interdisciplinary in nature and shall be useful to scholars and students of Political Economy, Political Science, Rural Development, Public Administration, Anthropology, Sociology, Gender Studies and Development. It is widely applicable to all sections of the marginalized socially, economically, culturally, academically, politically and other wise.