Cambios en la concepción y en los usos de la ruralidad: deI antropocentrismo productivista aI ecocentrismo naturalista

Rurality, in this paper, is considered as a social construction, that is to say, as a product (in most cases neither intentional nor anticipated) of the human social action. The uses and the conception of rurality. which depend on the specific time and social situation in which its social construction is performed. have changed its way of development since the second half of the twentieth century. from a context of a productivist antropocentrism to a growing prevalence typified as naturalist econcentrism. according to the terms used by the authors. This transformation has generated some changes in the understanding of agriculture and how this is related to nature, creating a new rurality conception. This paper, which focuses its attention on the socio-historic evolution of the image and the uses of the Spanish rurality,concludes with an analysis of the postures and the commonest attitudes shown in this country. This are related to the new rurality understanding and the growing incidence implied in the environmental effects caused by the agriculture