The youth in modern Serbian society is mostly uninterested in activism. That leads to their political atomization, privatization, more pronounced feeling of not belonging, and social exclusion. Since ...young people in villages are at a higher risk of social exclusion, a question arises as to the nature of their practices and readiness for activism. The analysis of activist aspirations of the village youth was performed on the basis of the data collected by a semi-standardized interview on the sample of 500 respondents (aged 18–29) in ten villages in Vojvodina. The results show that young people encounter numerous problems and are aware of them, but they do not take active part in their resolution. Village youth is characterized by political passivity, accompanied with the negative assessment of the efficiency of own action, as well as the feeling of social weakness.
Summary The development of rural areas is a complex social, economic, political and cultural issue of immense importance to the development of society as a whole. The vitality of rural communities, ...which represent a specific socio-spatial phenomenon, affects the development of global society and is inextricably linked to the development and issues of urban areas of each society. Both in theory and development practice, rural development as a complex and enduring process has long been unjustifiably reduced to the economic-agrarian matrix, often reflected in the modernization of agriculture and the centralized and sectoral management of and influence on rural development. The primary focus of this paper is on the social capital of rural communities, i.e. social relations and connections within local rural communities which, alongside other important development factors, are one of the prerequisites to maintaining their vitality. The paper presents the results of a survey on social capital conducted on 281 farms in the region of Vojvodina (Serbia), indicating the characteristics of the social capital on the farms considered and the farmers’ attitudes towards the development and life of their local communities. The social capital of the surveyed farmers was found to be only relatively good, suggesting that the overall social capital in Serbia is underdeveloped because all the farms considered are located in Vojvodina, i.e. the most developed agricultural area in Serbia characterized by rural settlements with the most favorable infrastructural, demographic and economic conditions.
The topic of this study is the factors that influence the consumption of traditional food products (TFPs) in tourism, as seen from the perspective of management-sector employees in food and beverage ...catering facilities. The paper aims to analyse the economic, environmental, social, and touristic factors that highly influence the consumption patterns of catering facilities which are significant providers of traditional gastronomic experiences in tourism, by using the specially designed TFPct scale. The study was conducted on a sample of 300 catering facilities in AP Vojvodina (the Republic of Serbia). An explanatory factor analysis was used to confirm the key factors that influence the consumption of traditional products used to prepare the meals that are a part of what catering facilities offer. Subsequently, a binary logistics regression model was used to establish which of the indicated factors has a statistically significant effect on the management's decision to purchase these products for their catering facility. The study showed that the TFPct scale is appropriate for this type of research, and that economic factors are key factors in the consumption of traditional products. Moreover, compared with other types of catering facilities, interest in the consumption of these products is clearly expressed by a la carte restaurants.
The research dealt with traditional food products (TFP) observed on the local hospitality-touristic market, from the point of view of 300 restaurant workers employed in managerial positions, as ...important subjects in preservation of tradition in hospitality and touristic industry of Vojvodina (Republic of Serbia). The research examined the management’s views on TFP, as well as whether there are differences based on the features of the respondents as well as the restaurant facility. In order to obtain data that would provide additional guidelines for acting on the hospitality and tourism market, the procurement and consumption of TFP was also examined. In order to determine set differences the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test was applied. In order to establish statistically significant differences between the observed groups, the Dunn’s
post hoc
test was applied. In the second part of the research, a binary logistic regression model was applied in order to determine which of the observed variables has a significant impact on the respondents’ decision to acquire TFP from their field. The research showed that the level of education and the field of management education significantly influence the attitudes about the offer of TFP in the hospitality and tourism market, as well as the type of restaurant offer and the development of the field of business.
The authors of this paper discuss the concept of organic agricultural products with an emphasis on economic performance. Research has shown that the total cost of production on organic farms is on ...average lower than that of conventional farms. Variable costs are 30 -40% lower. On the other hand, fixed costs are 45% higher than those from conventional production. An analysis of the economic situation of organic farms in Europe shows that, on average, they have profits or gross margins similar to those of comparable conventional farms, i.e. within the range of +/-20% of profits achieved on similar conventional farms. A survey conducted among organic producers on the territory of the Republic of Serbia showed that gross margins in organic production were on average 20% higher than in conventional production. Consequently, the economic aspect of organic production is more favorable than conventional production for the shown cultures.
The paper analyzes the characteristics of family life of households on selected farms in the area of AP Vojvodina based on the results of the evaluation of the extension service activities. The ...evaluation was done on a representative sample. The aim of the paper is to gain insight into socio-cultural features, the characteristics of the households, the marital contingent, and the distribution of authority, and (gender) division of labour in the holding. It is concluded that some of the characteristics of a rural household, when family life is concerned, have changed, that attitudes about the gender division of work have been evolved, while the practices, however, remained the same, which testifies to their deep rootedness and the matrix of behaviour that is changing rather slowly.
The concept of sustainable development has been attracting the attention of the scientific and professional community for decades. Various researches and papers focused on the concept of ...sustainability, exploring it through the prism of the economic, ecological and social subsystem. In this paper, the authors focus on agriculture and its sustainability. Starting from the assumption that organic farming is a sustainable system production, the authors turn to institutional support, trying to find a link between EU agricultural policy (CAP) and the growth of areas in organic agriculture. The research showed that this kind of support system failed to play the role that was intended for it and did not lead to mass acceptance of organic agriculture everywhere. Authors on the example of Denmark, Germany and Italy show the extent to which state support has influenced the expansion of areas under this system. Also, the comparison with the US agricultural policy leads to the conclusion that support policies for organic production constructed on a one-dimensional focus of payments per unit area will not lead to the expected results in terms of further progress and development of the organic sector.
Koncepcja zrównoważonego rozwoju przyciąga uwagę środowiska naukowego i zawodowego. Różnorodne badania i artykuły koncentrowały się na koncepcji zrównoważonego rozwoju, eksplorując ją przez pryzmat podsystemu ekonomicznego, ekologicznego i społecznego. W niniejszym artykule autorzy koncentrują się na rolnictwie i jego zrównoważeniu. Wychodząc z założenia, że rolnictwo organiczne jest produkcją systemową zrównoważoną, autorzy zwracają się ku wsparciu instytucjonalnemu, próbując znaleźć związek między polityką rolną UE (WPR) a wzrostem areału w rolnictwie organicznym. Badania wykazały, że tego rodzaju system wsparcia nie spełnił przewidzianej dla niego roli i nie doprowadził wszędzie do masowej akceptacji rolnictwa organicznego. Autorzy na przykładzie Danii, Niemiec i Włoch pokazują, w jakim stopniu wsparcie państwa wpłynęło na ekspansję obszarów objętych tym systemem. Również porównanie z polityką rolną USA prowadzi do wniosku, że polityki wsparcia produkcji organicznej zbudowane na jednowymiarowym skupieniu płatności na jednostkę powierzchni nie doprowadzą do oczekiwanych rezultatów w zakresie dalszego postępu i rozwoju sektora organicznego.
Већина младих у савременом српском друштву незаинтересована је за активизам. То доводи до њихове политичке атомизације, приватизације, израже- нијег осећања неприпадања, социјалне искључености. Како ...су млади у селу у већем ризику од социјалне искључености, поставља се питање какве су њихове праксе и спремност за активизам. Анализа активистичких аспирација младих у селу вршена је на основу података прикупљених полустандардизованим интервјуом на узорку од 500 испитаника (18–29 година) у десет села у Војводини. Резултати показују да се млади суочавају са бројним проблемима, да су их свесни, али ипак не учествују активно у њиховом решавању. Младе у селу карактерише политичка пасивност, праћена негативном проценом ефикасности сопственог деловања, као и осећањем друштвене немоћи.
The youth in modern Serbian society is mostly uninterested in activism. That leads to their political atomization, privatization, more pronounced feeling of not belonging, and social exclusion. Since ...young people in villages are at a higher risk of social exclusion, a question arises as to the nature of their practices and readiness for activism. The analysis of activist aspirations of the village youth was performed on the basis of the data collected by a semi-standardized interview on the sample of 500 respondents (aged 18-29) in ten villages in Vojvodina. The results show that young people encounter numerous problems and are aware of them, but they do not take active part in their resolution. Village youth is characterized by political passivity, accompanied with the negative assessment of the efficiency of own action, as well as the feeling of social weakness.
Abstract
Rural families and households make a basic framework for understanding the rural way of life. This relation is especially interesting under the recent and difficult post-socialist transition ...in places such as Serbia. Previous research has shown that the transition and its benefits are not distributed equally. This has induced social and economic disparities, at the expense of the social attractiveness of rural areas. These disparities have influenced characteristics of Serbian rural families and households, their survival strategies and their roles in the reproduction of the rural way of life. We started research with three assumptions: a) depopulation of Serbian rural areas continues under the post-socialist transition, b) transitional risks produce partial retraditionalization of Serbian rural family relationships, and c) characteristics of Serbian regions affect characteristics of rural families and households.
The analysis confirmed rural depopulation. In the decade 2002–2011, there was the most significant decline ever in the number of Serbian rural families. This signified the negative impact of transition on rural areas. Besides this, the research confirmed that contemporary Serbian rural families and households still have some traditional features (multiple generations, relics of the role of head of the traditional rural family) which enable them to cope with transitional risks. A third finding proved that characteristics of Serbian rural families and households depend on regional characteristics. Within the regions that are more socially attractive and where the risks of social exclusion are lower, retraditionalization of rural families is less noticeable. It can be concluded that contemporary Serbian rural families and households survive throughout transition periods depending on their characteristics, but also characteristics of their social environment. Stronger social magnetism of a region is manifested in stronger rural social vitality. That is reflected in stronger modernization of rural families and households.
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