ABSTRACT
This book describes and compares case studies in rural development in six European countries: Finland, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Scotland and Sweden.1 Our starting points are many: a old limestone quarry, a new marketing network, and an ongoing debate about public and private service provision, amongst others. We use these to tell the stories of continuity and change in the countryside as the people in case study areas told them to us. We shift between a close-grained description of the thoughts and actions of the people involved and an analytical mode that brings a broader understanding of how rural development has been taking place on the ground. There is one clear lesson: that development happens through social processes, and in particular social networks, that come before and, in some form or other, will last longer than any discrete development project. Understanding development requires a recognition that the dynamic of social continuity and change is key.
