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Economic Change (economic + change)
Selected AbstractsThe Limits to Globalization Theory: A Geographic Perspective on Global Economic Change,ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, Issue 3 2002Henry Wai-chung Yeung Abstract: The nature of globalization and global economic change has been a subject of immense academic research during the past two decades. The Janus face of globalization, however, continues to obfuscate our understanding of its complex processes and alleged geographic outcomes. In this article, I theorize on the indispensable role of geography in conceptualizing economic globalization. I argue that economic globalization is an inherently geographic phenomenon in relation to the transcendence and switchability of geographic scales and discursive practices as sociospatial constructions. Given its complex spatiality, economic globalization is more a phenomenon in need of explanations than a universal cause of empirically observable outcomes in the so-called globalization theory. To illustrate my theoretical claims, I analyze the complex interrelationships between globalization processes and the recent Asian economic crisis. Some implications for future globalization research in geography are offered. [source] "Moderate" Environmental Amenities and Economic Change: The Nonmetropolitan Northern Forest of the Northeast U.S., 1970-2000GROWTH AND CHANGE, Issue 1 2004Kristopher D. White ABSTRACT Population, employment, and income changes in a region comprised of eighteen nonmetropolitan counties of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York are described using Bureau of Economic Analysis data covering 1970 to 2000. Changes at the county level are examined as net differences using pooled cross-section time series analysis. The specific focus of the empirical analysis is the effect that environmental amenities have in population and economic change. Empirical results indicate that a county's relative endowment of environmental amenities has positive economic change effects, but only when the county is relatively accessible as well. Further, the environmental amenity effects vary in their temporal consistency, even when accessibility is taken into account. In general, however, the reported results support the proposition that even relatively moderate environmental amenities can hold positive effects for economic change. [source] The Ceramics of Raquira, Colombia: Gender, Work, and Economic ChangeAMERICAN ETHNOLOGIST, Issue 4 2000Les Field The Ceramics of Raquira, Colombia: Gender, Work, and Economic Change. Ronald J. Duncan. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. ix. 233 pp., illustrations, appendix, glossary, bibl.ography, mdex. [source] Beyond the Moral Economy: Economic Change, Ideology and the 1621 House of CommonsPARLIAMENTARY HISTORY, Issue 2 2006DAVID PENNINGTON First page of article [source] Afro-Cuban Religion, Ethnobotany and Healthcare in the Context of Global Political and Economic ChangeBULLETIN OF LATIN AMERICAN RESEARCH, Issue 3 2008ERICA MORET ,Globalisation', driven by neoliberal-based policies, can be seen to have significant impacts on ethnobotanical practices, particularly through the commercialisation of traditional knowledge and rise in identity-based social movements. Despite its relative political and economic isolation in comparison to more ,neoliberalised' areas of Latin America, local-level shifts occurring in post-Soviet Cuba are similar to those occurring elsewhere in the region. Afro-Cuban ritual activities have proliferated, particularly in Havana, leading to an increased dependence on the rich magico-medicinal pharmacopoeias employed in hybridised religions such as santería and palo monte , suggesting that ,globalisation' may have profound, albeit indirect, implications for even the most economically marginalised countries such as Cuba. [source] The Village in a Game Park: Local Response to the Demise of Coal Mining in KwaZulu-Natal, South AfricaECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, Issue 1 2003Tony Binns Abstract: Changing economic circumstances as a result of deindustrialization and market forces dramatically affect local areas and lead to a variety of local-level responses. Economic change and the reaction to this process have received much attention in the context of the decline of old heavy industrial regions in Western Europe and North America. But deindustrialization is also occurring elsewhere, for example, in countries such as South Africa, where the decline of mining and related industries is having a severe impact on the livelihoods of individuals, households, and communities. Considerations of institutional thickness, resourcefulness, and capacities inherent within host communities contribute to an understanding of the likely potential of the development response undertaken. This article considers the situation in a once important coal-mining region in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, focusing particularly on the community of Utrecht. In the postapartheid period, unemployment in the area has escalated, at a time when greater empowerment of the historically disadvantaged black population is urgently needed. Through cooperation within the community, together with the injection of external funding and collaboration in a series of joint ventures, Utrecht is progressively rebranding itself as a center for tourism. A number of community-initiated projects are discussed, and the dynamics of the formulation and implementation of the projects are evaluated in the context of the capabilities of individuals and institutions. [source] Prospects for the Survival of the Navajo Language: A ReconsiderationANTHROPOLOGY & EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2002Professor Bernard Spolsky What is the role of schools in the loss of indigenous languages? A study 25 years ago of prospects for the survival of Navajo placed most of the blame for the spread of English on increasing access to schools. Reconsidering that evidence and recent developments, the central role of the introduction of Western schooling is seen still to be highly relevant. But other factors have worked through the school, the major effect of which has been the ideological acceptance of English. Vernacular literacy, traditional or introduced religion, and political structure all have failed to establish a counterforce. Economic changes also led to new living patterns that, together with improved communication, broke down isolation and supported the threat to the survival of language. This study confirms the importance of seeing language and education in the full social, cultural, religious, and political context recognized by educational anthropology. [source] The three m's,mediation, postmodernism, and the new millenniumCONFLICT RESOLUTION QUARTERLY, Issue 3 2001Dale Bagshaw Postmodernism can be seen as a reaction to modernism. A modernist culture, built over the last few centuries around forms of rationality, self-discipline, and scientific values, is succumbing to the effects of rapid and unprecedented technological and economic change. The weakness of modernist thinking was the search for unitary definitions and the reduction under one label of complex clusters of thought. This article investigates the strengths and weaknesses of postmodernist and poststructuralist ideas for mediation at the beginning of the new millennium and argues that some aspects of postmodernist thinking are important to mediation,in particular the recognition of the power of language, or discourse, to reflect and shape the world. Postmodernism rejects dualistic thinking, notions of "neutrality" and "objectivity," and mega theories or overarching "truths," and celebrates diversity and conflict. Postmodernism offers mediators a new way of thinking about thinking but has its drawbacks when considering issues of human rights. [source] The Construction of the Myth of SurvivalDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 1 2007Mercedes González de la Rocha ABSTRACT A myth has come into being that the poor household/family is able to survive in spite of a lack of resources and the presence of macroeconomic policies that foster unemployment and poverty. It has an accompanying fable that tells of how the poor manage to implement survival strategies that are based on their endless capacity to work, to consume less and to be part of mutual help networks. This myth has become a useful tool for policy makers as they design more aggressive neoliberal economic adjustment policies. This contribution examines anthropological and sociological insights regarding the life of the poor and the organization of their households, in which women's paid and unpaid work is an integral part. Through the lens of a researcher in the field of urban poverty and household organization, the article re-examines the fable of the good survivor. Evidence debunks the myth, showing that the optimistic message of this fable does not match with the realities of the impact of economic change on women's lives. But the myth is sustained, as this more negative story is not one that supra-national policy actors want to hear. [source] THE REVIVAL OF CULTURAL EXPLANATION IN ECONOMICSECONOMIC AFFAIRS, Issue 4 2003E. L. Jones Cultural explanations of economic change were largely dropped for a generation, as economists rejected their inconclusiveness and other social scientists labelled them as politically incorrect. Peter Bauer, however, expressed disquiet at the way deep influences like culture were being ignored in economic analysis. This paper discusses why high-profile attention has now turned back to culture. It does not find the expositions offered to be very persuasive but nevertheless agrees that Bauer's unease was understandable and describes other recent academic studies that are more promising. [source] Moving Beyond Postdevelopment: Facilitating Indigenous Alternatives for "Development"ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, Issue 4 2003George N. Curry Using the example of smallholder oil-palm production in Papua New Guinea, this article illustrates how elements of a market economy and modernity become enmeshed and partly transformed by local place-based nonmarket practices. The persistence, even efflorescence, of indigenous gift exchange, in tandem with greater participation in the market economy, challenges conventional notions about the structures and meanings of development. The introduced market economy can be inflected to serve indigenous sociocultural and economic goals by place-based processes that transform market relations and practices into nonmarket social relationships. These kinds of inflections of the market economy are common and widespread and therefore worthy of consideration for their theoretical insights into processes of social and economic change and the meanings of development. The article concludes by outlining some preliminary thoughts on how development practice could be modified to provide more scope for this process of inflection, so that development strategies accord better with indigenous sociocultural meanings of development. [source] The Limits to Globalization Theory: A Geographic Perspective on Global Economic Change,ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, Issue 3 2002Henry Wai-chung Yeung Abstract: The nature of globalization and global economic change has been a subject of immense academic research during the past two decades. The Janus face of globalization, however, continues to obfuscate our understanding of its complex processes and alleged geographic outcomes. In this article, I theorize on the indispensable role of geography in conceptualizing economic globalization. I argue that economic globalization is an inherently geographic phenomenon in relation to the transcendence and switchability of geographic scales and discursive practices as sociospatial constructions. Given its complex spatiality, economic globalization is more a phenomenon in need of explanations than a universal cause of empirically observable outcomes in the so-called globalization theory. To illustrate my theoretical claims, I analyze the complex interrelationships between globalization processes and the recent Asian economic crisis. Some implications for future globalization research in geography are offered. [source] In gold we trust: social capital and economic change in the Italian jewelry towns , By Dario GaggioECONOMIC HISTORY REVIEW, Issue 2 2009ANDREW POPP No abstract is available for this article. [source] Avoiding tragedies: a Flemish common and its commoners under the pressure of social and economic change during the eighteenth century1ECONOMIC HISTORY REVIEW, Issue 1 2009TINE DE MOOR Despite the wide application of the metaphor of ,the tragedy of the commons', there is little historical literature that points to the weaknesses of its historical basis. There is, however, sufficient qualitative and quantitative evidence to prove that commons were well regulated and organized in order to achieve a sustainable management, that also took into account the needs and wishes of its commoners. This case study of a common in Flanders looks at the evidence for this in the eighteenth century, examining bookkeeping and other archival sources. A model that incorporates the different functions of the commons (sustainability, efficiency, and utility) is explained and applied. [source] Evolution, Path Dependence and Economic GeographyGEOGRAPHY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 5 2008Danny MacKinnon This article provides a review of research on evolution and path dependence in economic geography. While economic geographers have long been interested in regional economic change, the period since the early 1990s has witnessed a more explicit concern with questions of evolution and adaptation. Indeed, the notion that the economic landscape is ,path-dependent' has been described as one of the most exciting ideas in economic geography. Evolutionary economic geography (EEG) can be seen as comprised of two main strands of literature, focusing on: path dependency, institutions and lock-in; and evolution, routines and complexity. Rather than viewing EEG as a separate enterprise, I suggest that there is a need to link evolution to institutional and political economy approaches within a theoretically plural economic geography. After outlining the contribution of evolutionary economics and the two key strands of EEG, the article discusses some key issues for evolutionary research in economic geography. [source] "Moderate" Environmental Amenities and Economic Change: The Nonmetropolitan Northern Forest of the Northeast U.S., 1970-2000GROWTH AND CHANGE, Issue 1 2004Kristopher D. White ABSTRACT Population, employment, and income changes in a region comprised of eighteen nonmetropolitan counties of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York are described using Bureau of Economic Analysis data covering 1970 to 2000. Changes at the county level are examined as net differences using pooled cross-section time series analysis. The specific focus of the empirical analysis is the effect that environmental amenities have in population and economic change. Empirical results indicate that a county's relative endowment of environmental amenities has positive economic change effects, but only when the county is relatively accessible as well. Further, the environmental amenity effects vary in their temporal consistency, even when accessibility is taken into account. In general, however, the reported results support the proposition that even relatively moderate environmental amenities can hold positive effects for economic change. [source] Customary Law in Common Law SystemsIDS BULLETIN, Issue 1 2001Gordon R. Woodman Summaries How can the idea of the ,rule of law' be made a reality for ordinary people in African countries where customary law still underpins popular experience of ,law as practice'? It is argued that the idea of law itself should include all non-state ,normative orders' that are known, acceptable and pre-determined, as well as state law. What is called customary law is often closer to observed social norms (practised law) than the state law imported by colonialism, and indeed evolves in line with social and economic change, particularly in the field of land tenure. Any notion of the rule of law must support the institutions of customary law. One problem, however, is that in any country there are many different bodies of customary law particular to different localities, regions, cultures. This diversity must be both researched and recognised. [source] The story of socio-technical design: reflections on its successes, failures and potentialINFORMATION SYSTEMS JOURNAL, Issue 4 2006Enid Mumford Abstract., This paper traces the history of socio-technical design, emphasizing the set of values it embraces, the people espousing its theory and the organizations that practise it. Its role in the implementation of computer systems and its impact in a number of different countries are stressed. It also shows its relationship with action research, as a humanistic set of principles aimed at increasing human knowledge while improving practice in work situations. Its evolution in the 1960s and 1970s evidencing improved working practices and joint agreements between workers and management are contrasted with the much harsher economic climate of the 1980s and 1990s when such principled practices, with one or two notable exceptions, gave way to lean production, downsizing and cost cutting in a global economy, partly reflecting the impact of information and communications technology. Different future scenarios are discussed where socio-technical principles might return in a different guise to humanize the potential impact of technology in a world of work where consistent organizational and economic change are the norm. [source] Violence in the Atacama Desert during the Tiwanaku period: social tension?INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OSTEOARCHAEOLOGY, Issue 5 2004A. Lessa Abstract Tiwanaku influence significantly affected the lifestyle of the prehistoric peoples of the Atacama Desert as it represented an important period of social and economic change. Such intense changes as social stratification and new religious and ideological influences have always been characterized as peaceful ones. Palaeopathological studies based on the violence-induced traumatic lesions of 64 well-preserved human skeletons from an excavated funerary site named Solcor-3 have facilitated a comparison between Pre-Tiwanaku and Tiwanaku periods. Results show an increase in violence between males represented by low-intensity skull traumas, arrow wounds and a high mortality rate between 20 and 30 years of age during the Tiwanaku period. The interpretation of this data is contrary to the model of peaceful acceptance of the changes that followed the Tiwanaku influence into the Atacama. At least for Solcor-3, economic and political factors should be re-considered in order to explain the emergence of social tension during the Tiwanaku period. In the future, more detailed studies will probably help to clarify if conflicts had also extended to other sites in San Pedro de Atacama under Tiwanaku influence. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Company training in the United States 1970,2000: what have been the trends over time?INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 3 2004David Stern This study uses data from surveys of U.S. employees to determine whether any trends are apparent in the proportion who say they receive some form of training at work. Discussions of economic change in the U.S. and elsewhere have frequently asserted that work has become more intellectually demanding. This implies that training in workplaces should have become more prevalent. However, the survey data do not reveal any overall trend in the prevalence of workplace training between 1970 and 2000. There did appear to be a rising trend for women, evidently reflecting women's increased representation in professional and managerial occupations. Throughout this period, more highly educated workers are more likely to say they receive training at work. [source] Local Response to the Global Challenge: Comparing Local Economic Development Policies in a Regional ContextJOURNAL OF URBAN AFFAIRS, Issue 4 2000Joanne Wolfson This article reports on a study that examined and compared the responses of six Greater Toronto Area (GTA) municipalities (two central, four suburban) to the challenges of global economic change. The study was carried out in a context characterized by the transfer to municipal governments of both administrative and financial responsibilities for local services by the government of the Province of Ontario. It found a strong tendency for the municipalities to compete with each other for economic advantage, despite efforts to convince them of the need for a cooperative region-wide approach. Suburban governments relied principally on strategies to draw businesses away from the core, and this type of activity seemed likely to increase because of the municipalities' increased dependence on local property taxes. Nonetheless, study findings suggested several ways in which regional organizations or senior governments might help to strengthen regional economies without expecting municipal governments to surrender control over economic development policy. [source] Oil price movements and globalisation: is there a Connection?OPEC ENERGY REVIEW, Issue 3 2002Robert Looney There has been considerable speculation over the years concerning the cost of large oil price movements ("shocks") to consuming countries. For the advanced industrial countries, the conventional wisdom appears to be that, because these economies are becoming more service,oriented, less energy is needed per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) and hence a lessening of the economic costs associated with increased oil prices. On the other hand, because many newly industrialised or catching,up countries are entering a phase of energy,intensive industrialisation, the same oil shocks are placing an increasing burden on these economies. One can easily argue, however, that industrialisation is only one facet of economic change taking place in the world economy. Conceivably, the rapid pace of increased globalisation may significantly modify these patterns. To test this proposition, an operational definition of globalisation is developed and shown to be positively associated with the strength of oil price shocks. The main finding of the study is that increased globalisation appears to be strengthening the impact of oil price shocks in the advanced industrial countries, but to a much lesser extent in the newly industrialising countries. [source] Oil and non-oil sectors in the Saudi Arabian economyOPEC ENERGY REVIEW, Issue 3 2000Masudul A. Choudhury An empirical study of the sectoral diversification of the Saudi Arabian economy reveals that this economy is fast diversifying into non-oil sector activity. Such a transformation is carrying with it encouraging impacts on productivity growth, economic efficiency and social well-being. There is also found to occur all-round intersectoral linkages in the economy. These two patterns of economic change together define balanced and sustainable development for Saudi Arabia in the years ahead. The policy implications of non-oil sector diversification and intersectoral complementarity and their effects on realizing sustainable self-reliant development are important conclusions of this paper. [source] Settlement, Landscape and Social Identity: The Early-Middle Bronze Age Transition in Wessex, Sussex and the Thames ValleyOXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY, Issue 3 2000Joanna Brück In southern England, the end of the Early Bronze Age is marked by the appearance of archaeologically visible farmsteads and field systems. This paper explores and critiques the widespread idea that these changes are the direct result of a need to intensify agricultural production. Such discussions have implicitly drawn on evolutionist images of economic maximization and environmental exploitation that do not sit easily with our knowledge of other aspects of Bronze Age society. In this paper, I shall consider economic change as a consequence rather than the cause of wider changes to the social fabric at this time. A review of the Early and Middle Bronze Age settlement evidence provides insights into how society became transformed over the period and begins to hint at some of the reasons why subsistence practices changed so visibly. [source] A typology of community opportunity and vulnerability in metropolitan Australia,PAPERS IN REGIONAL SCIENCE, Issue 1 2001Robert Stimson Socio-economic performance; community opportunity and vulnerability; metropolitan regions Abstract. A multivariate model using hierarchical clustering and discriminant analysis is used to identify clusters of community opportunity and community vulnerability across Australia's mega metropolitan regions. Variables used in the model measure aspects of structural economic change, occupational change, human capital, income, unemployment, family/household disadvantage, and housing stress. A nine-cluster solution is used to categorise communities across metropolitan space. Significant between-city variations in the incidence of these clusters of opportunity and vulnerability are apparent, suggesting the emergence of marked differentiation between Australia's mega metropolitan regions in their adjustments to changing economic and social conditions. [source] Age at first reproduction and economic change in the context of differing kinship ecologiesAMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 4 2009Donna L. Leonetti Kinship systems which tend to be based on ecologies of subsistence also assign differential power, privilege, and control to human connections that present pathways for manipulation of resource access and transfer. They can be used in this way to channel resource concentrations in women and hence their reproductive value. Thus, strategic female life course trade-offs and their timing are likely to be responsive to changing preferences for qualities in women as economic conditions change. Female life histories are studied in two ethnic groups with differing kinship systems in NE India where the competitive market economy is now being felt by most households. Patrilineal Bengali (599 women) practice patrilocal residence with village exogamy and matrilineal Khasi (656 women) follow matrilocal residence with village endogamy, both also normatively preferring three-generation extended households. These households have helpful senior women and significantly greater income. Age at first reproduction (AFR), achieved adult growth (height) and educational level (greater than 6 years or less) are examined in reproductive women, ages 16,50. In both groups, women residing normatively are older at AFR and taller than women residing nonnormatively. More education is also associated with senior women. Thus, normative residence may place a woman in the best reproductive location, and those with higher reproductive and productive potential are often chosen as households face competitive market conditions. In both groups residing in favorable reproductive locations is associated with a faster pace of fertility among women, as well as lower offspring mortality among Khasi, to compensate for a later start. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] ,New spaces' for change?: Diamond governance reforms and the micro-politics of participation in post-war Sierra LeonePUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & DEVELOPMENT, Issue 3 2010Roy Maconachie Abstract While the majority of research carried out on diamonds and development in Sierra Leone has focused on debates concerning the role that diamonds played in the country's civil war of the 1990s, little attention has been directed towards understanding how the emergence and consequences of ,new spaces' for citizen engagement in diamond governance are shaping relationships between mining and political economic change in the post-war period. Recent fieldwork carried out in two communities in Kono District illustrates how the emergence of such spaces,although much celebrated by government, donors and development practitioners,may not necessarily be creating the ,room for manoeuvre' necessary to open up meaningful public engagement in resource governance. The analysis focuses on one recent governance initiative in the diamond sector,the Diamond Area Community Development Fund (DACDF),which aims to strengthen citizen participation in decision-making within the industry, but has frequently been at the centre of controversy. In framing and articulating socio-environmental struggles over resource access and control in Sierra Leone's post-war period of transition, the article highlights how the emerging geographies of participation continue to be shaped by unequal power relationships, in turn having an impact on livelihood options, decision-making abilities and development outcomes in the country's diamondiferous communities. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Lifestyle incongruity, stress and immune function in indigenous Siberians: The health impacts of rapid social and economic changeAMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 1 2009Mark V. Sorensen Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of economic and cultural change on immune function and psychosocial stress in an indigenous Siberian population. We examined Epstein-Barr virus antibodies (EBV), an indirect biomarker of cell-mediated immune function, in venous whole blood samples collected from 143 Yakut (Sakha) herders (45 men and 98 women) in six communities using a cross-sectional study design. We modeled economic change through the analysis of lifestyle incongruity (LI), calculated as the disparity between socioeconomic status and material lifestyle, computed with two orthogonal scales: market and subsistence lifestyle. EBV antibody level was significantly negatively associated with both a market and a subsistence lifestyle, indicating higher cell-mediated immune function associated with higher material lifestyle scores. In contrast, LI was significantly positively associated with EBV antibodies indicating lower immune function, and suggesting higher psychosocial stress, among individuals with economic status in excess of material lifestyle. Individuals with lower incongruity scores (i.e., economic status at parity with material resources, or with material resources in excess of economic status) had significantly lower EBV antibodies. The findings suggest significant health impacts of changes in material well-being and shifting status and prestige markers on health during the transition to a market economy in Siberia. The findings also suggest that relative, as opposed to absolute, level of economic status or material wealth is more strongly related to stress in the Siberian context. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2009. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Weberian perspectives on science, technology and the economyTHE BRITISH JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY, Issue 3 2002Ralph Schroeder ABSTRACT Several disciplines have contributed to the understanding of the relationship between science, technology, and economic change. Weber's perspective on this relationship, however, has not been properly explored. In the first part of this paper, we give an account of Weber's perspective. In the second part, we critically assess Weber's ideas, indicating those that are useful and those that deserve to be abandoned. We also confront a revised Weberian perspective with those of the main contemporary competitors, the key ideas of economists and economic historians on one side and social constructivists on the other. We conclude that a Weberian comparative-historical approach compares favourably with these competitors, and suggest where his approach still requires further work. [source] Double exposure in Mozambique's Limpopo River BasinTHE GEOGRAPHICAL JOURNAL, Issue 1 2010JULIE A SILVA This paper examines how double exposure to economic and environmental stressors , and the interaction between the two , affect smallholder farmers in Mozambique's Limpopo River Basin. Studying two case study villages we find that people, in general, are resilient to environmental stressors. However, most households show less resilience to the socioeconomic stressors and shocks that have been introduced or intensified by economic globalisation. Our findings indicate that economic change brought about by structural adjustment policies pressures rural people to alter their approach to farming, which makes it more difficult for them to respond to environmental change. For example, smallholder farmers find it difficult to make a transition to commercial farming within the Limpopo Basin, in part because farming techniques that are well adapted to managing environmental variability in the region , such as seeding many small plots , are not well suited to the economies of scale needed for profitable commercial agriculture. People use a variety of strategies to cope with interactive environmental and economic stressors and shocks, but many face considerable constraints to profitably exploiting market-based opportunities. We conclude that economic stressors and shocks may now be causing small-scale agriculture to be less well adapted to ecological and climate variability, making smallholders more vulnerable to future climate change. Some local level policy interventions, including those that support and build on local environmental knowledge, could assist rural agricultural societies in adapting to future environmental change in the context of economic globalisation. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||