‘The Global Countryside: Rural Change and Development in Globalization (GLOBAL-RURAL)’ is a major research project funded by the European Research Council and coordinated ba Michel Wood.
The study aims to advance our understanding of the workings and impact of globalization in rural regions through the development and application of new conceptual and methodological approaches.
Globalization has a pervasive influence in transforming rural economies and societies, with implications for the major societal challenges of environmental change and resource security. However, in comparison to studies of the global city, relatively little research has focused on the ‘global countryside’, and existing research lacks integration. GLOBAL-RURAL will develop an integrated perspective by drawing on relational analysis (and particularly the approaches of ‘assemblage theory’ and ‘countertopography’) to focus on the actual mechanics by which rural localities are ‘re-made’ through engagement with globalization processes, examining the mediating effect of national and regional context and the opportunity for local interventions.
One of the case studies involves rural areas of the Sardinia region, examining the effects and transformations that the phenomenon of international migration produces on these areas.
The research in Sardinia is conducted by Dr. Francesca Fois /Aberystwyth University and by Margherita Pisano and Gaetano Crivaro/L’Ambulante.
Promoted, coordinated and funded by: PRYFYSGOL ABERYSTWYTH UNIVERSITY, ERC – EUROPEAN RESEARCH COUNCIL, EUROPEAN COMMISSION – EUROPEAN RESEARCH AREA, SEVENTH FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME.