Around the fringe of Europe lies a green ring of countries which have followed different pathways into modernity from the industrial core of the continent and have, until recently, been characterized by a strong agrarian presence in their politics, economy and culture. This book brings together fascinating case studies to compare the various experiences of the rural and agricultural groups.

Contents: Central and Eastern European Countries in the Green Ring: De-peasantization or re-peasantization? changing rural social structures in Poland after World War II, Krzystof Gorlach and Pawel Starosta; De-peasantization of Hungarian rurality, Imre Kovách; The changing role of agriculture in the Czech countryside, Vêra Majerová; Rural change in Bulgarian transitions, Bob Begg and Mieke Meurs; Soviet patrimonialism and peasant resistance during the transition - the case of Estonia, Ilkka Alanen; Rural transition problems and post-socialist peasantization in the Russian forest periphery, Eira Varis; Post-traditional or post-modern rurality? cases from East Germany and Russia, Karl Bruckmeier and Marina Olegowna Koptina. Mediterranean Countries in the Green Ring: The de-agriculturalization of the Greek countryside: the changing characteristics of an ongoing socio-economic transformation, Charalambos Kasimis and Apostolos G. Papadopoulos; Shifting rurality: the Spanish countryside after de-peasantization and de-agrarianistion, Jesús Oliva and Luis A. Camarero; Portugal: the emergence of the rural question, Isabel Rodrigo and Manuel Belo Moreira; Reconstructing rurality in Mediterranean Italy, Maria Fonte. The Green Ring in the North of Europe: Peasantization and beyond in Finland and Scandinavia, Leo Granberg and Matti Peltonen; Creating and re-creating modernity: peasantization and de-peasantization in Ireland, Hilary Tovey; Societal paradigms and rural development - a theoretical framework for comparative studies, Ivar Jonsson. The Future of Peasants in Europe’s Green Ring: Afterword, Leo Granberg, Imre Kovách and Hilary Tovey.