THE AGRICULTURAL MODEL AND THE INTEGRATION OF RURAL AREA FACING THE RESTRUCTURING OF PORTUGUESE SOCIETY
Recognizing the profound changes taking place in rural areas, affecting in particular the economic activity of farmers, their living standards and even the relationship between rural and urban areas, this study aimed to reassess the role of agriculture and rural areas in the Portuguese economy and society taking into account the impacts of European integration, the strategies adopted by farmers to cope with the adverse effects of market integration, and the marginalization of small farmers.
During the decade 1986-1996, the economic situation of farmers worsened.
Most small family farms, faced difficulties, forcing a large number of them to disappear. The increasing separation between agriculture and other sectors of the local economy meant that the strategies for valuing manual labour, which linked small farming to forms of industrialization and diffuse urbanization, ceased to function.
However, this decade also witnessed a high level of agrarian conflict. A thorough analysis of these conflicts has shown that, despite their radicalism, the protests failed to reverse the downward trend in agricultural prices caused by EU membership.