Responses to EU rural development initiatives in the transitioning Republic of Macedonia’s Tikveš wine region

This paper investigates the European Union’s IPARD funding scheme at work in the Tikveš wine region of the Republic of Macedonia. Based on anthropology fieldwork carried out in Tikveš in 2011, it argues that for most farmers, the scheme’s opportunities are unattainable. Primarily, participants must put down a substantial amount of money to take part in the program. Meanwhile, this occurs under the umbrella of post-industrialization and privatization, whereby the region’s majority grape growers are undergoing a “catastrophic” transition and have had several years of unpaid harvests, if their grapes are even bought at all. The industry is in reality transforming itself due to market pressure, but for growers it appears that to survive increasingly requires turning to other means such as barter and subsistence living. Therefore, the growing disparity between the winery owners and the grape growers combined with the uncertainty of the latter’s future means that most growers cannot imagine participating in a development scheme such as the IPARD. This paper will thus elaborate on the policies behind it and the specter of EU integration for the Tikveš region.