ABSTRACTS/RÉSUMÉS/KURZFASSUNGEN.

The article presents abstracts of various manuscripts published in the January 1991 issue of the journal "Sociologia Ruralis." The article "Norwegian Policies for Rural Development," deals with political strategies aimed at regional development in Norway. It is possible to identify different policies based upon different political ideas or lines of arguments. The question is, to what extent the different regional policies are adequate to support regional development. The article starts by pointing out some important social and economic changes in rural regions during the last twenty years to identify the important factors associated with rural maintenance and development. Another article "Pluriactivity, Structural Change and Farm Household Vulnerability in Western Europe," presents findings from the five-year research programme "Rural Change in Europe: Programme on Farm Structures and Pluriactivity." From the Baseline Survey of over 6000 farms in 24 study areas, results are presented examining the extent, nature and importance of pluriactivity, farm household income diversification and income vulnerability A typology of household income sources and farm business size is developed. The findings are examined according to contextual characteristics and related to patterns of farm adaptation. Pluriactivity is found to be of major significance to Western European farm households in terms of both labor involvement and income.