ABSTRACT
To say that the governance of rural space in the European context is at something of a crossroads is, of course, to understate a set of conditions that have been evolving for at least the past decade (Redclift et al., 1999). Despite numerous policy documents and initiatives (like the recent Agenda 2000 associated and rural regulation statements), considerable difficulties persist concerning the development of a truly reformed European approach. For instance, despite over fifteen years of debate and policy crisis concerning the ‘arthritic’ nature of productionist support mechanisms within the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and the need to shift the emphasis towards new social and environmental agenda, it is still the case that the main pillar of the CAP remains in this area in terms of funding. Moreover, it still tends to reinforce the logic of agricultural productivist scale economies by rewarding the largest volume producers, as well as ‘locking in’ many of the less productive producers and those least able to meet the demands such policy-designed ‘technological treadmills’ require.
