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Both in practice and policy a new model of rural development is emerging. This paper reflects the discussions in the impact research programme and suggests that at the level of associated theory also a fundamental shift is taking place. The modernization paradigm that once dominated policy, practice and theory is being replaced by a new rural development paradigm. Rural development is analyzed as a multi‐level, multi‐actor and multi‐facetted process rooted in historical traditions that represents at all levels a fundamental rupture with the modernization project. The range of new quality products, services and forms of cost reduction that together comprise rural development are understood as a response by farm families to both the eroding economic base of their enterprises and to the new needs and expectations European society has of the rural areas. Rural development therefore is largely an autonomous, self‐driven process and in its further unfolding agriculture will continue to play a key role, although it is a role that may well change. This article provides an introduction to the nine papers of this ‘special issue’ and the many reconfiguration processes embodied in rural development that they address.in rural development

Management style and its association with bulk milk somatic cell count (SCC) and the incidence rate of clinical mastitis were studied in 300 Dutch dairy herds. Cluster analysis was used to identify groups of farmers who had similar management styles for the prevention of mastitis. Two groups of farmers could be differentiated. The management style of the first group of farmers was described as clean and accurate; the management style of the second group of farmers was described as quick and dirty. The relationship between clusters and the bulk milk SCC category was high. The relationship between clusters and incidence rate of clinical mastitis was weak. Compared with herds with a high (250,000 to 400,000 cells/ml) bulk milk SCC, herds with a low bulk milk SCC (< or = 150,000 cells/ml) were managed by farmers who were younger, had children with a higher education, and were more eager to invest. Farmers of herds with a low bulk milk SCC kept better records and were more familiar with each cow in their herds. The most striking difference between farmers of herds with low and high bulk milk SCC was that the first group worked precisely rather than fast; the latter group of farmers worked quickly rather than precisely. As a result, the farms with herds that had a low bulk milk SCC had better hygienic conditions than those farms with herds that had a high bulk milk SCC. We also discuss the implications for producer education with regard to udder health.

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The principal aim of this paper is to demythologize current notions on planned intervention. This, we believe, is indispensible for the development of a critical analysis of policy and intervention practices'. We argue that it is important to challenge the time-space definitions, normative assumptions and praxeology implied in orthodox intervention models; and we expose the limitations of certain theoretical conceptions that underpin them, giving particular attention to the theorization of commoditization, institutional incorporation and the interrelations of state and civil society. As an alternative, we propose an actor-oriented analysis that views intervention as a 'multiple reality' made up of differing cultural perceptions and social interests, and constituted by the ongoing social and political struggles that take place between the social actors involved.At the outset we need to distinguish between theoretical models aimed at understanding processes of social change and development (here we are especially concerned with agrarian change) and policy models which attempt to set out the ways in which development? can be promoted. This distinction is important but, of course, not absolute since policy models are explicitly or implicitly based upon theoretical assumptions and interpretations that are supposed to explain how change takes place or how objectives are to be achieved3. Theoretical models may address themselves to specific dimensions (e.g. rural or urban development, or political transformation) and some aim to characterize the essential elements of policy-making and implementation itself'.The interrelations between theoretical and policy models are often left unexplicated and therefore unclear. Hence it seems important to focus upon intervention practices as they evolve and are shaped by the struggles between the various participants, rather than simply on intervention models, by which we mean the ideal-typical constructions that planners, implementors or clients may have about the process. Focussing upon intervention practices allows one to take into account the emergent forms of interaction, procedures, practical strategies, types of discourse, cultural

An important implication of agricultural modernization has been the break-down of interlinkages between farming, ecology and society. Historically, farming systems evolved from the specific responses of farming communities to local ecological conditions. The totality of regionalized farming systems arising out of this co-production moulded the countryside into an 'archipelago' of differentiated ruralities. During the period of agricultural modernization, the nature of co-production changed thoroughly. The natural elements in co-production were increasingly artificialized or replaced by industrial artefacts. This paper analyses the emergence of environmental cooperatives in the Netherlands as a movement towards a renewed embedding of farming in its local environment. Environmental cooperatives are local farmers associations that promote activities related to sustainable agriculture and rural development and claim to be actively involved in effectuating rural policies in their locale. Since the foundation of the first cooperative in 1992, numbers have rapidly grown to over 100. This paper examines the genesis and practices of environmental cooperatives and assesses their socio-economic and ecological impact. The importance lies most of all, so the authors contend, in that they represent valuable 'field laboratories' for building stimulating and supportive institutional contexts for remodelling Dutch farming along the lines of environmental and economic sustainability.

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