Process of change in the Spanish rural society. Plurality of interests in a new opportunity structure

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyse the way in which the present process of change is perceived within the Spanish rural society. To do this we shall take as our starting point the thesis that the perception of change is not homogeneous, but is differentiated according to the different groups that comprise rural society. Some, including most farmers and agricultural workers, see it as a traumatic crisis, the end of an era and the loss of their rights, while others, those not involved in agriculture and more forward looking farmers, see it as an opportunity to exploit endogenous resources in different ways, and as the beginning of a new era, in which the countryside can be managed in harmony with the plurality of interests coexisting within it. To begin with, we shall analyse the present process of change, paying particular attention to those factors (economic, social, political and cultural) that affect agriculture and rural society most directly, and which explain the new expectations and the emergence of a new opportunity structure. In the second section we shall look at how this opportunity structure is perceived by those concerned, both farmers and non farmers, and analyse their responses to the problems they face.