Farmland, Food and Forests in Transition: The Eurasian countryside 25 years after
Conference marking the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall
Date: 7 November 2014
Venue: Romanian Academy of Sciences, Bucharest
About the conference
This conference investigates the rural transformation in the post-socialist Eurasian countryside.
The revolutions in the capitals became iconic for the 1989/1991 watershed: the fall of the Berlin Wall, the storming of the Palace of the People in Bucharest or the siege of Moscow’s White House.
Regarding the post-socialist revolutions and protests again the main cities were in the spotlight; with Kiev’s Maidan square, and the tulip revolution in Tbilisi, Georgia. However, what happened in the countryside during these historical changes?
Aims
This conference aims to present cutting edge insights on the changing face of the countryside and the effects of shifting borders in the countryside, drawing on research varying from in-depth case studies to presentations taking a comparative, regional view on Eurasia, and broad analyses linking present developments to socialist and pre-socialist histories.
It aims to bring together people working on farmland, food, forests in national and cross-border contexts, and invites research that looks at those issues from new angles and critical perspectives.
This academic conference also aims to bring in voices from outside academia (e.g. policy, agriculture, rural movements).
Themes
- The rise of large-scale land investment and land accumulation in farmland and forests.
- Small-scale farmers and their socioeconomic arrangements (such as associations, movements).
The conference starts with plenary presentations, followed by thematic panels with e.g. one focusing on large-scale farmland investment and one on small-scale farming and food.
Full conference details (see Downloads below)
Conference programme and speaker bios
(See Downloads below)
- The programme
- The speaker bios
Launch of EURAL
It aims to provide a platform with open exchange on the benefits and limitations of current agricultural forms and newly emerging agrarian pathways.
Organizing committee
Oane Visser (ISS)
Stefan Dorondel (F. I. Rainer Institute)
Max Spoor (ISS)
Organizing institutes
International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), The Hague, NL
Fransisc I. Rainer Institute of Anthropology, Bucharest
Eurasian Agrofood and Land initiative (EURAL) in cooperation with the Land Deal Politics Initiative
sponsored by the European Research Council (ERC) grant nr. 313871 and ISS