Imre Kovách

leader, a New Social Order, and the Central‐ and East‐European Countries

The paper considers the relevance of leader to the context of the ceecs and, in particular, to Hungary. The main argument is that the leader approach represents one of the most likely paths for socio-economic development. The theoretical approach of paper adopts political economy and actor network theory to conceptualize leader as a move from direct intervention towards a new indirect regime of market relations interpreting leader as participative redistribution. The paper analyses the major disparities that exist between conditions in the ceecs and the eu rurality and the consequences of post-socialist transformation. It is argued that, in the ceec context, the strengthening of civil society, its institutions and their control (monitoring)over development system are necessary components of a leader-type approach so as to offset power of bureaucracy and the economic elite.

The Social Context of Project Proliferation—The Rise of a Project Class

This article analyses the rise of a new social formation, the project class which represents a recent complex societal and political change. It is argued that project proliferation along with reforms of the administrative structures, changes in the nature of developmental policies and the increasing importance of cultural and cognitive elements of territorial development are the driving forces behind the emergence of a new class. This article analyses the mediatory position of the new social class in the redistribution of public and particularly private development funds, and in the transfer of materials, ideas, knowledge and power. Special attention is given to the intellectual capital that provides legitimacy for the project class and to the flexible social and economic positioning by which the members of the new class create, use and consume intellectual and material products of the information society in order to be competitive on the markets of the project-based economy. The article apprehends the relationship between the emergence of the project class and the transformation of the local power structure. Finally, it demonstrates the challenges related to new forms of knowledge use associated with the emergence of the new social class.

The role of intermediate actors in transmitting rural goods and services in rural areas under urban pressure.

This paper seeks to review the role of intermediate actors in transmitting rural goods and services (RGS) to urban consumers in rural areas. The central questions are to identify intermediate actors and their capacity to conciliate, bridge and connect actions between rural and urban actors. Comparing the case studies of five European countries (Finland, France, Hungary, the Netherlands and Spain), the interpretation of the term ‘intermediate actors’ is rather dissimilar. The transformation of administrative structures and development policies and the rise of the culture economy are important factors to explain the emerging number and strengthening role of intermediate actors. To reflect the intermediate cooperation between the urban and rural actors, three types of conceptual structures may be relevant for analysis: the French ‘multiple’, the Finnish and Dutch ‘organized’ and the Spanish and Hungarian ‘adaptive’ models. Finally, it has been argued that rural development and its power structures could be more considered in terms of encouraging certain activities and enabling mediators to be primary actors of new urban–rural relations.

Exploring Innovation and Sustainability in the Metropolitan Rural Areas of Budapest and Paris

Abstract The chapter focuses on rural-urban food links in the context of governance. We seek to understand a rural-urban innovator mechanism is emerging through the food system and the renewed question of proximity and relative autonomy in the alimentary supply of this type of space and local society. We present case studies from Paris and Budapest metropolitan rural areas exploring institutional and private actors of governance, their power networks, food and related cultural components of rural-urban relations, the function of food links and the way in which they are governed. We have found several differences in governance methods between the Paris and Budapest metropolitan ruralities. The areas surrounding Paris are characterised by multi-level governance methods. However, an isolated form of rural governance of the rural-urban local food link can be identified in Budapest’s rural areas. Understanding the complex and dynamic interaction of food links and related activities within metropolitan areas offers the possibility of a far greater understanding of the complex and multiple links between sustainability, renewal of social interaction and cohesion.