Aims

Until now, there has never been an international forum dedicated to the study of rural history in all its forms. The British Agricultural History Society is aware of the diversity of work being undertaken in the field, sometimes in cognate disciplines such as gender or development studies or under the banner of rural sociology or environmental history, perhaps institutionally separated from the historical mainstream by being undertaken in social science faculties, agricultural colleges or NGOs. It is also keenly aware that the current difficulties in the world’s agrarian economies – with the development of new markets, the sudden appearance of high prices, the spread of innovative and controversial technologies, the impact of land reform and the threat of long-term climatic change – may well draw renewed attention to the discipline. Within Europe, it now seems possible that the post-productivist countryside may ne no more than an interlude rather than the final stage in rural development. Perspectives and priorities change: there is much to be done.

            Whilst we acknowledge the pioneering work of the European networks—CORN, for the Rural History of the North sea area; the COST-funded project Progressore for the European Union; the Rural History Network embedded within the European Social Science History Conference  and the Arbeitskreis für Agrargeschichte  — all of which have developed European connections, the Society now wishes to develop, deepen and internationalise these contacts. We have therefore taken the initiative to convene the first international open meeting dedicated solely to rural history. This will take place on 13-16 September 2010 at the University of Sussex, Brighton, UK. We hope to receive sufficient support from the rural history community for the conference to run over three days with three or four parallel sessions.

          The conference does not accept that rural history has any single definition, nor does it admit any bounds, and the conference has no intellectual affiliation. It is open to those approaching rural history from any perspective, ranging from those of archaeology, anthropology and ethnography through rural geography, landscape studies and rural sociology to post-modern cultural approaches to the countryside. It will be equally concerned with the countryside as a place of production of foodstuffs as with as the countryside as a place of consumption of leisure and the location of heritage and national memory. It also hopes to receive contributions from those primarily interested in viewing contemporary conditions and future developments with a knowledge of the past. Papers will be welcomed on all periods from the prehistoric to the very modern; nor are there any geographical limitations on the area of study. Comparative discussions which deal with rural society as a whole will be especially welcome, together with accounts which seek parallels between present day agrarian problems and those of the past.

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