This paper explores how commons reproduce over time and introduces the concept of commoning to discuss rural continuities and change. The point of departure is that commons are essential for local community development in that they have an important role for mediating social change and for local identity production. Through an ethnographic and historical study of a number of commons systems from the village of Ängersjö in the Midwest of Sweden, the paper argues for a more historically and socially grounded understanding of how commons evolve. The paper examines Ängersjö's commons within two broad historical time frames -the pre-industrial (4th to 20th century) and the post-industrial time periods (20th century to the present) -in order to understand commons, not just as arenas for resource extraction and resource struggles, but also as important contexts for identity formation, local mobilisation and for shaping rural change. The paper reveals how the commons have co-evolved with changes in society at large and how the meanings and functions of the commons have changed throughout history -from being important economic resources -to cultural and symbolic resources that have created new avenues for collective action.The role of the commons for understanding rural continuities and change 509

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In connection to concerns about, for example, climate change, peak oil, pandemics and the depopulation of many rural areas, there has been a counter-migration from urban to rural areas in past decades. An important part of this counter-migration is the so-called 'back-to-the-land' migration of former urban residents who move to rural areas and adopt primarily agrarian lifestyles. Through a review of 48 migration letters in which migrants write about their experiences of moving from urban to rural areas to commence agriculture, this article explores the underlying ideals and agricultural practices of the back-to-land phenomena and discusses what significance this form of agricultural migration may have for understanding broader sustainability transformations and contemporary rural change.Important questions concern: What kinds of motives, practices and ideals underpin back-to-the-land migration? What relevance does "back-to-the-land" have for how we comprehend rurality and how the current food landscape is changing? Based on the letter reviews, this article illuminates four interconnected themes with regard to back-to-the-landers practices and ideals. Backto-the-land as (i) rebelling against payroll work andThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

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