Rural studies are the theoretically informed and empirically grounded integration of disciplines that, until recently, were widely separated. This separation came with different grammars, mutually contrasting problem definitions and different methodological instruments that together resulted in...

Institutional analysis of rural development (IARD) is characterised by systematic attention given to the institutional dimensions of the rural development process. While different research enquiries have been developed in recent decades, which can be framed by rural development, a systematic...

Being a farmer is far more complex than we often consider. The job includes the capacity to organise and combine factors of production (land, capital and especially labour) and simultaneously meet the needs of consumers and many other things. To do so, the farmer has to face, time and again,...

Recent studies on markets and their role in development processes have highlighted the crucial importance of market access as well as of power relations. In this article we argue that it is necessary to take a step forward regarding the notion that markets are collective action devices that can...

This article discusses the evolutions that have taken place in agricultural and rural policy instruments since their first implementation in 1999. In particular, it will be underlined how the evolutions have been influenced by the concept of multifunctionality and the emergence of the new...