INTRODUCTION: THE FAMILY FARM IN ADVANCED CAPITALIST SOCIETIES; CORPORATISM, THE STATE AND SURVIVAL STRATEGIES.

The problem of family farming is approached from different angles in three empirical studies on the Great Britain, Norway, and a village in the south of France. The three studies all describes the survival and revival of the family farm in a period of capitalist and industrial development. In the first paper Michael Winter examines the Milk Marketing Board in the Great Britain as a particular aspect of policy management by the state. Using Panitch' theory of corporatism, Winter shows that the MMB is a state-induced collaboration between different classes of agricultural producers, acting as a powerful agent in the implementation of state policy. The third paper by koel Puijk has a different perspective. It starts with a review of some French theories of agricultural development and capitalism. Puijk criticizes these theories for not taking into account the internal dynamics of the agricultural production unit. The failure or success to adapt to changing circumstances depends on the familial situation, personal factors and desired standards of living. Puijk develops a framework based on Chayanov's consumer/producer ratio and uses this to analyse the survival strategies of winegrowers. In his paper Puijk touches upon an important point, which is neglected in the sociology of agriculture. The reproduction of family farmers has often been seen in purely economic, technical and physical terms.