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After the Second World War, the agriculture of the Oldenburg Münsterland has developed into the backbone of a flourishing commercial economy. Meanwhile, however, farmers are under growing economic pressure. In addition, the previous successful model, a high-intensity agriculture with a focus on processing, is increasingly being questioned by the public. The essay asks how the farmers themselves see their situation. In open interviews, farmers and their families provided information about their position in society, about the impositions and moments of happiness of their profession and about how they face the future. The collected statements refer to the opportunities and perspectives of the professional group as well as the entire agricultural region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the proceedings of a conference entitled "Totgesagte leben länger? Geschichte und Aktualität ländlicher Gemeingüter in vergleichender Perspektive" that was held on June 12-13, 2015 in Germany. The conference focused on history and current rural commons in comparative perspective, the collective use of resources dedicated in agriculture and case studies on a rural commons in European perspective.

»Establishing a Line. Definitions of the Border and the Territory in the Duchy of Sachsen-Gotha 1640-1665«. This article discusses the changing definition of boundaries in the Duchy of Sachsen-Gotha in the middle of the 17th century and it demonstrates that the new definition of the boundary can be interpreted as reflecting a new understanding of the territory as space. The study analyses not only the external borders but concentrates especially on the spatial definition of the administrative districts of the Duchy. Although from 1640 to 1665 a large number of boundary stones had already been placed and several borders had already been surveyed, the study of administrative practices and of the writings of the member of the Gotha administration Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff proves that in this period several spatial concepts were in use, ranging from a punctiform idea of space, based on tangible legal rights, to a concept of space as surface. Though the "modern" definition of the territory as a surface had not been fully asserted, first steps in this direction had already been taken. The article will demonstrate that the new definition of borders as a precise line had been settled in a long process, following in each territory its own chronological rhythm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural land conflicts in Colombia are typical of such conflicts in Latin American, but Colombia is, at the same time, an exception: nowhere else has the violent displacement of people from regions with promising agro-industrial or mining projects, and the outsourcing of violence to paramilitary groups, been so systematic. Out of a total population of approximately 44 million, the United Nations now estimates between 3.6 and 5.2 million internally displaced Colombians. This article analyses the violent reconfiguration of rural Colombia. It does not just look at the actual conflicts but also at the relations of domination which, in turn, influence these conflicts and the production of space. Neil Brenner's (2004) approach allows for a critical analysis of the developments in Colombia - most notably how state strategies have radically restructured rural spaces from the 1980s onwards and how they more or less constituted a coherent state-spatial project during Álvaro Uribe Vélez's two presidential terms from 2002-2010. More than other space-theoretical approaches, Brenner combines the process of spatial structuring with the question of the driving forces at different institutional scales for the remaking of state space. Doing this, Brenner adds a spatial perspective to Bob Jessop's (2008) strategic-relational approach to state theory and enables a differentiated analysis of processes in sub-national spaces and institutional scales, the modalities employed and the relation to subaltern spatial strategies. This makes this approach extremely interesting and helpful to better understand the complex landscape of rural conflicts in Colombia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses research conducted by the Institut für Sächsische Geschichte und Volkskunde (Institute for Saxon History and Ethnology) on the integration policies and the individual methods of adaptation of the refugees that settled in Saxony, Germany after the end of World War II. It examines how the influx of immigrants affected the region of Saxony, which was a part of the Soviet occupation zone (SBZ) from 1945 to 1990, how a national land reform affected the migrants, and the reasons for why many emigrant families turned to agriculture and farming.

This article discusses how and why the nobility began restructuring their estates in Northern Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) during the early modern period, focusing on the feudal land estates in Frýdlant, Czech Republic. Several topics are discussed, including how changes to the social system in rural regions prompted this restructuring, how the formation of small plots of land within the feudal estate contributed to economic stability, and how the rural peasants often made financial requests of the feudal lords. Also mentioned is that after the Thirty Years' War in Europe the social conditions of the peasants worsened, which often prompted the members of the nobility to reduce their feudal payments.

The article discusses the 2008 annual report of the Rural and Agrarian Sociology Section of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziologie (DGS). The major topics discussed in the report are demographic change in rural areas and the effects of climate change, emissions, and rising food costs on changes in land usage.

The article discusses the twin agricultural issues in Germany of rural flight and farm overproduction. The Manholt Plan is reviewed which in 1968 called for the retirement of five million hectares of farmland from European Economic Community (EEC) agricultural production by 1980. Increasing tracts of unused land are becoming available, and questions have arisen about land use for new settlements, for reversion to wilderness, and for recreational activities.

The article discusses growing global problems in developing countries of hunger and a high infant mortality rate, coupled with a population explosion that will exacerbate those problems. U.S. and European relief supplies of grain are quantified. Efforts at literacy education, land reform to encourage agriculture, and public health measures are reported on, as well as attempts to encourage birth control.