ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book deals with the theoretical difficulties and suggests ways forward in critical rural research centred on contemporary departures from the categorical logic of petty commodity production. It looks at contemporary social and economic forms of small-scale production in rural areas and their significance in the very different circumstances of countries in southern Europe, Latin America and central Europe. The book provides an important counter to the somewhat stylised account of the links between artisanal producers and corporate capital promoted by theories of 'flexible specialisation' and a post-Fordist era of industrial organisation. It examines the re-emergence of small-scale enterprise in rural Hungary, using the concept of the second economy and stressing its significance for household livelihoods and gross domestic product in a centrally planned context despite, until recently, being officially discouraged.
