CULTURAL IDENTITIES AND INTEGRATION IN RURAL GREECE

THE INTEGRATION OF Greek agricultural structures into the national and European economy entails multiple transformations for rural societies . Some are associated with problems manifest at the level of preservat ion and creative continuity of local identities and cultures. Subseque ntly, this paper will attempt to explore the ways in which state cultu ral policy in Greece reflects tendencies to divide social reality into autonomous spheres, by reducing 'cultural problems' observed at local level to the mere provision of cultural institutions, as well as the consequences of such reductive policies. We will also examine the prob lems of a social and cultural nature that the recently revised CAP has raised and the conditions under which these problems could be transfo rmed into sources of creativity at a local community level. Rabelais' prophetic warning: science sans conscience n'est que ruine de l'ame dr aws attention to an issue that remains of critical importance to our d ays, that is, the relationship between science and conscience. This is sue is compounded by the actual radical ambivalence of science; for as science progresses, it inseminates doubt instead of exorcising it. Sc ience can make the world understandable by making the world predictabl e but it cannot make it meaningful. As science advances, meaning retre ats, leaving the world disenchanted (Turner 1993, p. 11) Specializatio n and compartmentalization, both essential features of modern science, have destroyed the sense of responsibility (Morin 1982). The carving up of social spheres into specialized and quasi-autonomous institution s has led us to believe that problems arising in any of these separate spheres can be dealt with in terms of the sphere they 'belong' to. Th us, 'cultural problems,' such as the cultural-social 'void,' 'crisis' or 'malaise' observed in rural communities over recent decades tend to be attributed to defects or omissions at the level of cultural infras tructures. It is further assumed that solutions to such problems can b e found in and provided by the sector of cultural policy, i.e., the me asures taken and their implementation in the context of such policies.