<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> The paper is focused on the issue of culture and its connections to rural developments. It was based on the assumption that the culture has various impacts on rural communities` life, as well as, it has been present in various ways in functioning and changes that might be observed in rural areas. In our opinion, such a perspective should be presented in a more detailed way in order to stress the multiple and various impact of cultural issues on economic and social transformations in rural areas. Therefore, we divided our paper into three consecutive parts. In the first one, we discussed the multi-dimensional image of culture, and its role in human development. In the second one, we discussed some changes in the mechanisms of rural development, perceived as moving from the traditional to the contemporary one. We wanted to stress that culture seems to be an important part of the latter one. The last part of our considerations brought some empirical evidence from Poland focused on the role of culture in rural developments showing, at the same type, some examples of this new mechanism of rural development. </abstract>

Culture and Rural Development: Voices from Poland

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> In historical continuation from the Soviet Union, social policy is predominantly a female responsibility. The present article focuses on women in local politics, who have an important role in local change, and who; among others, cope with poverty and try to solve reasons and consequences of poverty. Based on interviews and observations, the article shows how women’s entrepreneurial skills of handling various shortcomings in the Soviet system are reflected in their present strategies for social development in local contexts in Russia. While the state leadership decides about reforms, setting new formal rules, local politicians develop their own routines and strategies. Being responsible for organising social welfare, interviewed female politicians told about how they use different strategies. This means that adopted practices are likely to be more heterogeneous than before. It seems important to both rely on useful norms inherited from the Soviet time, while also developing strategies based on new possibilities, arising as a result of reforms. The empirical data is based on interviews from three minor communities in one Russian region, conducted in 2002 to 2012.</abstract>

Women in Local Politics in Russia: Coping with Poverty and Strategies for Development

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> The study provides an insight into Interreg and IPA programs achieved so far, having significant impact on the labour market of rural areas. Another objective is the evaluation of the effects of labour market programs, with the help of the interviews with experts coordinating these programs. However, the Croatian- Hungarian cooperation was perfect, went smoothly, which is also due to the similar labour market problems of the cooperative areas. They fight with similar methods, even in the project reports, evaluations, and there are also similar results found. It has become clear that financial resource-intensive elements cooperation programs operated until they were financed. In these cases, the closing of them prevented sustainability. The non financing-intensive programs, especially if there is local demand that is not based on a faulty premise, and no fundamental changes have taken place, prove to be sustainable. The maintenance and expansion collaborations are important tasks after Croatia’s accession to the EU. Croatia, by taking its own path, but with the use of the Hungarian experience, can stabilize the labour market situation in the most underdeveloped areas.</abstract>

Appearance of European employment policy in the rural areas of Hungarian-Croatian border region

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> The LEADER approach was introduced in Poland as part of the LEADER+ Pilot Programme (implemented in the programming period 2004-2006) and, at present, it is being implemented as Axis 4 of the Rural Development Programme. Many researchers are interested in its progress. In their analyses, they use various concepts of social capital. It may be concluded on the basis of the studies published so far that local action groups are dominated by the public sector, whereas the economic sector is rather marginalised. Having taken into account the available publications, a team of sociologists from the University of Łodź conducted in 2011-2013 research devoted to the level and structure of social capital of local action groups. The study focused on organisations from 6 voivodeships which implemented scheme 2 of the LEADER+ Pilot Programme. The article presents the analyses of the most important problems of these organisations related to the condition of the components of social capital possessed by their members (partners). The researchers used the material from individual surveys completed by 573 respondents from 34 local action groups. It was proven that the surveyed organisations mainly cope with the problem of a low activity level of their members (partners), petrification of their boards and councils, marginalisation of representatives of the economic sector, high level of professionalization and low level of generalised trust among the persons who belong to these groups.</abstract>

Problems of functioning of Polish local action groups from the perspective of the social capital concept

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> Thanks to the field observations conducted on the territory of central Serbia, it was noticed that people in rural environment, beside the optional conversations about weather conditions, most often talk about the politics. The aim of this work was to find out how many people who live in the countryside have the contact with the politics. Hypothesis were made within the communication with several examinees, but they were verified by the poll in which more than 100 persons took part. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, using T-test, one-factor analysis of ANOVA variance, and also they were checked by Post-hoc Tukey test. The work task was to find out if gender, age, as well as, professional and regional differences exist in relation to the countryside inhabitants considerations about certain political issues they have been talking about. The importance of this work is to discover whether the distance from urban environments and, life in nature can make a man less interested in and indifferent to the politics.</abstract>

Politics in the Balkan countryside: case study in Serbia

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> This article analysed the place of rural youth in the socio-structural processes taking place in the Russian countryside, using the findings of Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey of the population’s economic condition and health (RLMSHSU); conducted between 1994 and 2011, and of the Integrated Survey of the Living Conditions of the Population carried out in all 86 Russian regions in 2011. Rural youth (15 to 30 year-olds) are the first generation socialized in the period of cardinal institutional changes and market economy formation. They make up a great part of the rural population. This investigation showed that; in spite of the rise in the educational level, the share of the unemployed and occupied in the informal sector of the economy is great in the rural youth employment structure, which leads to the growth of poverty and migration. The material and financial status of young countrymen’s households and rural youth’s marital behaviour were also examined.</abstract>

Rural Youth in Russia: Their Status and Prospects for Development

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> This research examined the residents’ profile, attitudes, and perception towards tourism development based on 176 respondents interviewed. Residents’ attitudes toward tourism were measured by adapting 24 items from the Tourism Impact Attitude Scale developed by Lankford and Howard (1994). This study aimed at identifying the relationships between residents’ socio-economic and demographic attributes and their attitudes toward tourism by focusing on villages where tourism is in the development stage.</abstract>

Residents’ Attitudes and Perception towards Tourism Development: A Case Study of Rural Tourism in Dragacevo, Serbia

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> The present article attempts to describe the social evolution of the community of Vershina, a village founded in the beginning of the 20th century by voluntary settlers from Little Poland, from a cultural island to the stage of assimilation. The social, economic, cultural, political and language situation of the community changed several times. The most significant historical moments of Russia and the Soviet Union set the borders of three main periods in Vershina’s history. During its first two-three decades Vershina consisted a homogenous Polish cultural and language island. The migrants preserved the Roman Catholic religion, Polish language and traditions as well as farming methods and machines. Collectivization and the communist system with its repressions made the Polish village assimilate to its surroundings. With the flow of time, the generation of first settlers died and some of the traditions of Little Poland vanished or got modified by the elements of the Soviet, Russian or Buryat culture. After the Perestroika the minorities gained some rights, which strengthened in the 1990s. Thanks, to the political changes and the collapse of the SU the inhabitants of Vershina can found cultural organisations, cultivate their religion, and learn Polish in local schools. However, in spite of the regained rights, over the decades of mass sovietization and ateization, the culture and customs of the Polish community became similar to other Siberian villages. Young people from the group of our interest abandon their mother language and are not eager to leave Russia and move to Poland. The process of assimilation is intensifying while there are practically no factors protecting the local culture and language. </abstract>

Socio-cultural and Language Changes in a „Cultural Island”: Vershina – A Polish Village in Siberia

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> The article presents the results of the fifth bi-seasonal survey conducted in 2004- 2005 within the framework of the longitudinal study of the time use, everyday activity and living conditions of the rural population. The study is conducted on a sample group of villages representative of the south of Siberia in rather different historical periods. The emphasis is made on changes that have taken place in the rural everyday life and on the use of time during the last two decades; in particular, in the beginning of the new century. It presents the results of the analysis of the time budgets of working women and working men and their answers to questions concerning the facts of reality, their assessments and values. In the early 2000s the working time of men increased, while their time spent on private plot production and housework decreased. Similar situation was observed in the case of women; however, the time spent on household production increased. More pronounced changes were observed among agricultural workers, especially men (increasing working time and decreasing time of housework, sleep and leisure). On the whole, there was a noticeable redistribution of time between work in the house and household production and work in the agricultural enterprise being the source of the material well-being of the rural family. The male-female difference in the total work load and leisure time has decreased.</abstract>

Everyday activity of rural employees in Siberia

AHEAD OF PRINT

Volume 28 (2022): Issue 1 (December 2022)

Volume 27 (2021): Issue 1 (December 2021)

Volume 26 (2020): Issue 1 (December 2020)

Volume 25 (2019): Issue 1 (December 2019)

Volume 24 (2018): Issue 1 (December 2018)

Volume 23 (2017): Issue 1 (December 2017)

Volume 22 (2016): Issue 1 (December 2016)

Volume 21 (2015): Issue 1 (December 2015)

Volume 20 (2014): Issue 1 (December 2014)

Volume 19 (2013): Issue 2013 (December 2013)

Volume 18 (2012): Issue 2012 (January 2012)

Volume 17 (2011): Issue 2011 (January 2011)

Volume 16 (2010): Issue 2010 (January 2010)

Volume 15 (2009): Issue 2009 (January 2009)

Eastern European Countryside

 Eastern European Countryside - printed volumes 23'2017 and 24'2018 - task financed under the agreement 785/P-DUN/2017 with funds Minister of Science and Higher Education for dissemination of science activities.  Eastern European Countryside - digital volumes 24'2018 and 25'2019 - task financed under the agreement 706/P-DUN/2018 with funds Minister of Science and Higher Education for dissemination of science activities.   Developed by Institute of Sociology at Nicolaus Copernicus University as an international platform for the sociological discourse on Eastern and Central European countryside developments, EEC publishes research on CEE countryside rather than research by CEE researchers. The journal covers social theory and analysis on two levels: comparative research on European countryside, and CEE countryside in international perspective. Concentrating on the present, EEC articles examine themes reflecting recent and significant changes in CEE countryside from a cross-disciplinary view point. The journal is essential reading for all sociologists, economists, political scientists and social policy analysts wishing to keep abreast of the very latest debates in this part of Europe.  The aim of the EEC is to provide a medium for the publication of original papers covering the entire span of sociological thought and research concerning Central and Eastern European countryside. The Editors are particularly keen to publish work on current developments in research and analysis.  Why subscribe and read  EEC is the only periodical dealing with countryside change in Central and Eastern Europe (countries which underwent a fundamental system transformation after 1989, abandoning socialism for a democratic system based on the free market economy). It presents the process of change in the legislative, organizational, economic, social areas, predicted consequences of these changes. Most of texts are about socio-economic, political, cultural phenomena in the lives rural communities undergoing change.  Why submit  EEC provides international circulation for research results and academic works generally published only in national Eastern and Central European countries languages and thus restricted within the borders of a particular country market.  The readership of the periodical – whose yearly circulation is between 100/200 copies is relatively wide. These are individuals and institutions in whole World (we have readers from Asia, Northern America and others) interested both in the progress of change process in the legislative, organizational, economic and social areas in Eastern and Central European Countries as well as the known and predicted consequences of these changes.   Archiving  Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.  Plagiarism Policy  The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process. 