Rural People and Communities in the 21st Century: Resilience and Transformation

Race, Migration & Demography

by David L. Brown, Kai A. Schafft (Contributor)

Rural people and communities continue to play important social, economic and environmental roles at a time in which societies are rapidly urbanizing, and the identities of local places are increasingly subsumed by flows of people, information and economic activity across global spaces. However, while the organization of rural life has been fundamentally transformed by institutional and social changes that have occurred since the mid-twentieth century, rural people and communities have proved resilient in the face of these transformations. This book examines the causes and consequences of major social and economic changes affecting rural communities and populations during the first decades of the twenty-first century, and explores policies developed to ameliorate problems or enhance opportunities. Primarily focused on the U.S. context, while also providing international comparative discussion, the book is organized into five sections each of which explores both socio-demographic and political economic aspects of rural transformation. It features an accessible and up-to-date blend of theory and empirical analysis, with each chapter's discussion grounded in real-life situations through the use of empirical case-study materials. Rural People and Communities in the 21st Century is intended for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in rural sociology, community sociology, rural and/or population geography, community development, and population studies.

272 pages, Paperback

First published March 22, 2011

Reviews

[Ags · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the second edition!

This is a readable, relatively quick intro to various ways sociologists conceptualize/consider rural America. As an intro, this was helpful for giving me a "lay of the land," so to speak, and I appreciated the emphasis on how there is great variation across rural contexts while still giving you some guide posts for what matters for rural areas. Of course, there's always more content/topics that could be added.

This doesn't have some features of textbooks that I find most helpful, like reflection/discussion prompts or chapter summaries/main take-aways. There aren't many pop-out boxes, but the ones that are here are helpful for going a bit deeper or getting a tangible example of what's being briefly described in text. The figures are sometimes hard to read because the shades of gray used in them are very close together. I wished that the "conclusion" section of each chapter didn't add in new info but, instead, synthesized what was already presented. Finally, I think this would be improved if it used more theory; this is largely descriptive.

Glad I read this + grateful for this resource!

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too much freedom is dangerous! People might just leave the village for the city and leeches like the authors of this volume might be back to flipping burgers at McDonald's. Quick! The government should do something!

[Will Dole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful. I wonder if some of the analysis is dated given it is over a decade old at this point and technology and COVID may have had some large impacts not shown is research from the 90s and early 00s. But useful data and I'm glad I read it.