Transformative Mobilities and Resilience Dynamics in Rural Coastal Greece in a Time of Recession
The recent economic recession has severely affected peoples’ lives in Greece, but it has also triggered various resilience practices/acts performed by people residing in rural areas. Coastal and island areas, though affected by the decline in economic act
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Transformative Mobilities and Resilience Dynamics in Rural Coastal Greece in a Time of Recession Apostolos G. Papadopoulos and Loukia-Maria Fratsea
8.1 Introduction Contemporary debates on rural development discuss rural areas as fluid places which cannot be seen in isolation from other areas and, most importantly, from urban areas. The stereotypical perceptions of rural areas as declining and problematic spaces are strongly contested by the evidence illustrating their vast diversity and significant potential for the EU economy and society (Perpiña Castillo et al. 2018: 12). More to the point, demographic and migration trends, the deployment of transport infrastructure, globalisation, the intensification of agricultural production, the abandonment of marginal lands, urban development, housing patterns, etc. are some of the factors which impact on the alleged stability of rural areas and create a complex picture for considering their dynamics. Additionally, it is common knowledge that rural residents are not a fixed category made up purely of a permanent population of farmers, fishermen or other groups traditionally associated with the local economy and society. Increasingly, non-indigenous population groups end up living in rural areas, simultaneously posing a number of issues for the particular locales. The main argument is that both urban and rural population groups interface in the rural domain (Pahl 1966; Paquette and Domon 2003; Mahon 2007), a neglected fact which, if researched more, would help us gain a better understanding of the socioeconomic dynamics involved (Lacour and Puissant 2007; Papadopoulos and Ouils 2014). While many rural places have witnessed significant turbulence connected to population movements (e.g. changes in housing and land markets) (Stockdale et al. 2000) others seem to have seen their economies revitalized (Stockdale 2006; Fonseca 2008; Rye 2018). The rural is seen as an arena of intersecting and/or transformative mobilities interwoven with mobility and fixity, while the interaction A. G. Papadopoulos (*) · L.-M. Fratsea Department of Geography, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 F. N. Döner et al. (eds.), Crisis and Post-Crisis in Rural Territories, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50581-3_8
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between various social groups and stakeholders poses new challenges for these areas. In this setting, economic development priorities and goals are redirected/ reconfigured on the basis of the various/mixed mobilities and the social groups enacting in each area. The interactions between different social groups, as well as their engagement in the local development processes are conducive to the rural development model promoted by social actors in an area. The recent economic recession of 2008/9 posed new challenges for rural and urban areas alike. Indeed, the recession had a severe impact, particularly in the southern European member states (Matsaganis and Leventi
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