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An Event History Analysis of Parcel Extensification and Household Abandonment in Pays Basque, French Pyrenees, 1830–1958 AD

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Abstract

This paper examines local processes of agricultural abandonment, socioeconomic changes, and associated landscape transition in a Pyrenean mountain village. We analyze the effects of socioeconomic and demographic factors contributing to changes in parcel level land use and ownership from 1830 to 1958. We use an event-history analysis to examine how individual etxe (Basque households) influenced the pace and character of landscape transition through their internal composition and their mediation of market pressures. Contrary to conventional narratives of agricultural transitions, our analysis suggests that more rapid “abandonment” of the landscape was prevented by etxe that were able to both engage in markets and maintain higher fertility rates. We conclude that the capacity of agropastoral landscapes to absorb broad-scale change is directly tied to local institutions, such as the etxe, which ultimately mediate socioeconomic drivers of change.

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  1. Archives Communales de Larrau and Archives Départemental des Pyrénées Atlantiques

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Acknowledgments

This paper is truly the result of collaborative effort. We are grateful to residents of Larrau for their assistance and hospitality. We extend a special thank you to Mme Maryse Accoceberry (Secrétaire de Mairie de Larrau) and professors Dolorès De Bortoli and Pascal Palu who provided crucial guidance, support, and access to data. We thank Dominique Cunchinabe, Sara De La Torre Berón and John Chamblee for data collection, entry, and management respectively.

This paper was developed under STAR Fellowship Assistance Agreement no. FP917243 awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It has not been formally reviewed by EPA. The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the authors. Partial support was provided by a FACE-Partner University Fund award to the University of Georgia and to the Université de Pau et du Pays de l’Adour, the National Science Foundation through an award to the Coweeta LTER Program (DEB-0823293), the Laboratoire ITEM, Université de Pau et du Pays de l’Adour, and the Laboratoire GEODE, Université de Toulouse - Jean Jaurès.

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  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia, 250 Baldwin Hall, Athens, GA, 30602-1619, USA

    Michael R. Coughlan & Ted L. Gragson

  2. Laboratoire TRACES - UMR 5608, Université de Toulouse - Jean Jaurès, Toulouse, France

    Ted L. Gragson

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  1. Michael R. Coughlan
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Correspondence to Michael R. Coughlan.

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Coughlan, M.R., Gragson, T.L. An Event History Analysis of Parcel Extensification and Household Abandonment in Pays Basque, French Pyrenees, 1830–1958 AD. Hum Ecol 44, 65–80 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-016-9808-y

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