Rural development reconsidered: building on comparative perspectives from China, Brazil and the European Union

摘要

1 - leading questions: In addition to describing and reflecting on the rural development processes that are currently occurring in China, Brazil and the European Union this article also explicidy discusses the genesis, development and impact of different rural development policies that are associated, in a sometimes uneasy way, with these processes. We do not aim to directly compare these policies or processes. Although such comparisons might be helpful (and there is considerable "crossbreeding" between the continents), we believe that such a direct comparison would require much decontextualization, which would obscure the way in which most rural development processes and practices are very strongly rooted in the specificities of time and space.