ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the processes of sociocultural and ecological change occurring in southern Honduras. These processes are closely linked with events that are shaping the global agricultural situation. The chapter addresses the problem of linking micro and macro data by demonstrating some pragmatic theoretical and methodological strategies that can be utilized by social scientists in coming to better understandings of the linkages of micro and macro processes. The cultural ecology of development perspective will be used to delineate the processes causing change in southern Honduras. The improvement of transportation links during the 1950s and 1960s has speeded up the changes in the agrarian structure of southern Honduras. A ready market for livestock is provided by seven meat packing plants that were established in southern Honduras between 1958 and 1971. Regional data from southern Honduras and from Central America as a whole show that processes similar to those identified in Pespire are occurring throughout the wider area.
