Economic and social factors influencing Lithuanian agricultural development

vokKirjasto Aj-

THE BOOKS FOR AN OPEN SOCIETY AS THE FACTORS OF ACADEMIC SOCIALISATION

The article combines theoretical analysis with the empirical research and discusses the role of academic book in the process of academic socialization. The interpretation of the role of academic book depends on the conceptualization of the process of socialization. Therefore opposite approaches of academic socialization are discussed. If functionalism treats socialization as an adoptionto the fixed societal roles, constructivism treats socialization as the development of distinct identity. The development of identity is not successive but includes different stages that do not consequentlyfollow one from another. The tropic nature of the discontinuous process of socialization is discussed. The interpretation of academic books by different according the level of academic socialization groups reveals different tropes that shape the different discourses and treatments of academic books. For Bachelor students the acquaintance with academic books is closely related with the building of professional self-identity. Critical and constructive evaluation of the Publishing Programme Books for an Open Society by Master degree and especially by Doctoral degree students, prove the Programme’s books to be an important factor of education of critical thinking, academic and professional socialization. Number of books of one academic discipline supported by the Programme could be considered as an indicator of the academic power of the discipline. The focus group discussions support the hypothesis that studies in the disciplines that have more academic power causes better academic socialization and quicker development of the professional self-identity

Conceptualising the Rise of the Rural Community Movement in Lithuania: A Framework for Analysis

This paper develops a framework for analysing the process of rural community development and institutionalisation in Lithuania. The first communal groups were established in rural Lithuania in the late 1990s. Over the last decade the number of such organisations in the country increased to 1,400. Although a very positive development, rapidly growing grass-roots activism has often led to a complex process of cooperation, conflict, competition and negotiation among the newly-created community groups and existing state agencies, non-governmental organisations, political parties, and various rural and urban interests. The model identifies four arenas of contention and negotiation, in which the newly-created communal groups have attempted to claim legitimacy and define their role in the social, economic and political life of the country: the public sphere, formalised (state financed and delivered) culture, social services' provision, and commercial (profitable) activities. Strategies of rural activists and their effectiveness in each of the four arenas of institutionalisation are examined. The contributions, as well as weaknesses, of the rural community development in promoting rural development in Lithuania are discussed

Structural adjustment of national agriculture and food industries within the framework of integration in the EU

Ei saatavilla tiivistelmää eikä abstraktiavokMTT Taloustutkimus (MTTL