Rural Milieus in East-Central Europe — Gendered Attitudes to Post-modern Values

Post-modern societies are often considered to be connected with a strong appreciation of nature, culture and safety (Soule and Lease 1995, Sellamna 1999). The environmental and social aspects of economies are gaining in importance and the adoption of information technology is reducing the importance of physical distance. These processes are part of post-modernisation and may lead to a change in the assessment of under-development, especially in rural peripheries. While new societal framework conditions have the potential to create a new developmental path, rural peripheries often find themselves in a dual cultural trap. On the one hand, rural policies in remote or structurally weak regions often adhere to the paradigm of modernisation, while rural economies find it difficult to compete since they are frequently far from the market, below the threshold of economy of scale and lack skilled labour and financial and social capital. With regard to assets like unspoilt nature or cultural heritage the regions might have more potential for following a post-modern path of development, however local actors are often not ready. Against this backdrop it is a key hypothesis of this chapter that the transformation of societal values in a globalised world also offers favourable opportunities, in particular for the less developed areas in East-Central Europe.