Chapter 6 Greek Rural Society and Sustainable Development George A. Daoutopoulos, Myrto Pyrovetsi and Eugenia Petropoulou 1. INTRODUCTION The success of post-war agricultural development in Greece is a well- known story. In recent years, however, it is a story that has come up against its own intrinsic boundaries and contradictions. The main parameters of post-war developments in Greek agriculture included the constant growth of total agricultural output, the securing of new markets, and the increase of agricultural income. Yet, prospects for the future are haunted by several worrying problems. Greek agriculture is in crisis (Maravegias 1989). Both success and crisis are the result of a deliberate modernization proc- ess formulated during the last fifty years. The promotion of modem agricul- tural practices and the increasing dependence on costly external inputs in order to maintain productivity, had significant socio-cultural and environ- mental impacts. For example, knowledge and practices of management methods which have sustained production in traditional agricultural systems in Greece for thousands of years under the auspices of the so-called Com- munity Mode of Production system (CoMP) have declined or vanished, leading to accelerated soil erosion, accumulation of toxic chemicals and the Greek farmers' reliance on diminishing and unpredictably priced petroleum resources (Kousis and Petropoulou, forthcoming). The dissolution of this mode of production due to the penetration of market forces that brought the Capitalist Mode of Production (CaMP) was detrimental for Greek rural areas, resulting in a loss of jobs, further economic disadvantages for small- scale farmers, and increasing specialization of livelihoods (Pyrovesti and Daoutopoulos 1999). Hence, the need to identify the ecologically sustainable features of traditional agriculture is now being recognized, as part of a strat- egy which can be integrated into present-day economic pressures and appro- 151 K. Eder and M. Kousis (eds.), Erwironmental Politics in Southern Europe, 151-173. © 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers.