What rural restructuring?

This paper emerges from a growing sense of disquiet over the regularity and often loosely utilised appearance of the concept ‘rural restructuring’ in the literature. The paper examines rural restructuring from two perspectives — as an analytical approach that emphasizes the need for a holistic view of change processes, and as a statement on the character of change in the countryside. The argument put forward is that restructuring ideas have much to commend them as an approach, even if theoretical improvement will require more diversity in ‘starting’ theoretical perspectives and a stronger willingness to engage with other theoretical stances when the weaknesses of a ‘starting’ perspective are revealed. This will entail approaching questions of rural restructuring from a broader range of perspectives than currently dominant visions, which are grounded in political economy. In exploring restructuring ideas as ‘facts’, the paper focuses on England, as this is a country in which rural restructuring is commonly reported to have occurred or be occurring. The paper argues that this vision of the English countryside is too poorly articulated and that support for this vision is far from convincing. It cautions that restructuring processes are less widespread than is often implied. Moreover, there are grounds for seeing restructuring processes are reifying the past, not heralding a new social dynamic.     

The restructuring of rural Spain?

This paper explores the utility of ideas derived from the rural restructuring literature for understanding contemporary trends in rural Spain. It concludes that the processes that analysts associate with rural restructuring are of little help in understanding the Spanish context. As regards capitalist markets, the Spanish countryside is not characterised by economic diversification, professionalism, environmentalism and consumerism on a scale that resembles anticipations derived from the restructuring literature. For state processes, lethargy is a more appropriate adjective than restructuring. Likewise, social and cultural change in civil society are subdued versions of trends that beset Spanish society.     

Beyond agriculture? Regulating the new rural spaces

The analysis of agrarian uneven development has tended to treat agriculture and the food system as something of a bounded and discrete element within the wider sweep of capitalist evolution. This paper begins to problematize this conception by examining some new parameters of uneven development given significant changes in the political economy of agriculture and rural development over the past decade. It does this with reference to recently completed extensive and intensive research conducted across Western Europe and, more specifically, in particular localities in England. In the latter parts of the paper some key dynamic concepts are introduced which need incorporating into the understanding of the diversity of the new rural spaces. We need to do more than simply recognize this diversity by understanding how it emerges, for whom, and by whom.     

Rethinking the changing structures of rural local government – State power,rural politics and local political strategies?

There is a notable absence in contemporary rural studies – of both a theoretical and empirical nature – concerning the changing nature of rural local government. Despite the scale and significance of successive rounds of local government reorganisation in the UK, very little has been written on this topic from a rural perspective. Instead research on local political change has tended to concentrate on local governance and local partnerships – on the extra-governmental aspects of the governance system – rather than on local government itself. In contrast, this paper draws upon strategic-relational state theory to explore the changing structures and institutions of rural local government, and analyse how these can be related to the changing state strategies of those groups which are politically powerful in rural areas. In this respect, the paper draws on current and previous rounds of local government reorganisation to illustrate how new objects of governance, new state strategies and new hegemonic projects are emerging as a consequence of such restructuring processes.     

Networks — a new paradigm of rural development?

The network concept has become widely utilised in socioeconomic studies of economic life. Following the debates around exogenous and endogenous development, networks may also have particular utility in understanding diverse forms of rural development. This paper assesses whether networks provide a new paradigm of rural development. It seeks to capture a series of differing perspectives on economic networks — including political economy, actor-network theory and theories of innovation and learning — and attempts to show how these perspectives might be applied to different types of rural areas. The paper demarcates two main “bundles” of networks: “vertical” networks — that is, networks that link rural spaces into the agro-food sector — and “horizontal” networks — that is, distributed network forms that link rural spaces into more general and non-agricultural processes of economic change. It is argued that rural development strategies must take heed of network forms in both domains and that rural policy should be recast in network terms.     

The middle classes in rural England 1971–1991

This paper examines the issue of whether the English countryside has been ‘captured’ by the service classes. It examines this issue with regard to three questions: the role of the service classes in deciding dominant rural images; their role in controlling change processes in the countryside; and their share of the rural population. For the first two, doubts are raised about the importance that is being attached to middle class ‘capture’ ideas. The demographic takeover of the countryside is examined empirically, using census data on individuals from the Longitudinal Study. This shows that notions of a demographic dominance by the service classes are exaggerated and largely apply to SE England. Extending class membership to include those who have ever been in a class indicates that there is a comparatively slight tendency for migration into rural areas to be associated with downward social mobility amongst service class members. Inward movement was more closely allied to longer term service class membership. In gender terms rural areas were not distinguished from other zones in the same region in terms of the likelihood that female in-migrants would stay in full-time employment or leave the paid workforce.     

Advocating rurality? The repositioning of rural local government

Since 1979 the local state in Britain has experienced a period of considerable restructuring in which the power of elected local government has been severely diminished. As a new system of local governance, characterized by self-organising networks transcending the state, private and voluntary sectors, has emerged, so elected local government has had to re-imagine its role. This paper suggests that one strategy that has been adopted has been to re-position local councils as ‘pressure groups’, lobbying external actors on behalf of local interests. Furthermore, it is argued that in rural areas the restructuring of the local state has coincided with a wider social and economic restructuring and hence an intensified contesting of rurality. As such, it is argued that rural local government has become concerned not only with advocating local interests, but with advocating particular discourses of rurality. These assertions are discussed in the context of a case study concerning strategic planning for housing development in the district of Taunton Deane in Somerset.     

Postmodern rural geography? A reply to Murdoch and Pratt

Jonathan Murdoch and Andy Pratt's thoughtful response (Journal of Rural Studies9, 411–427) to Philo (1992) (Neglected rural geographies: a review. Journal of Rural Studies8, 193–207) is considered. Their suggestions about the engagement between rural studies and the intellectual currents of ‘postmodernism’ are important ones, and offer both an extension of the claims made by me and a critique of my own lack of self-reflexivity. I outline my partial agreement with their analysis, but offer certain qualifications arising from a different understanding of ‘postmodernism’. I indicate my approval of their call for a ‘sociology of postmodernism’ alert to the making of ‘the rural’ as a concept in circulation, but argue that central to this call is the necessity of investigating the senses of rurality held by all manner of ‘other peoples’ beyond the academy. In this respect, then, the approach of Murdoch and Pratt may be more consistent with my own ‘postmodern rural geography’ than it might first appear.     

Will the retiring baby boomers return to rural periphery?

Many belonging to large post-war age cohorts in the western countries moved from rural areas to larger industrializing cities. They retire soon and can consider moving back to the childhood places. This article studies these baby boomers and the issues about their return to peripheral rural areas. The case regards one rural municipality, Ristijärvi, in the remote Northeastern Finland. Despite ageing of local population, Ristijärvi aims to attract new elderly inhabitants with the Seniorpolis project. The entire baby boom generation of Ristijärvi municipality was studied. A questionnaire was answered by 313 people born in Ristijärvi in 1946–1955 and who live now elsewhere in Finland. Answers were analyzed with cross tables and factor analysis. Additional phone interview was held with 66 considering return migration. Furthermore, local policies to attract the elderly (return) migrants were analyzed. Potential elderly return migrants with spouse can reach up to tenth of current municipal population. Of the respondents 3% expressed their wish to return and 19% could live part-time in Ristijärvi. Remained contacts and summer cottage in Ristijärvi and wish to live in rural areas influence positively on returning. Those interested in returning seek clean nature, peaceful environment, security, detached houses with beautiful setting, lower housing costs and landscapes of home region. Elderly and their return migration should be conceptualized further. Return migration can be a trigger for local development as presented in the public–private initiative the Seniorpolis. However, local elderly policies should be analyzed carefully and promoted those projects having long-term positive impact.     

Working with the grain? Towards sustainable rural and community development

This paper explores some connections between the ‘cultural turn’ in recent social theory, and the emergence of new models of local and regional development which have potential importance for the pursuit of sustainable rural development. Two particular examples of attempted cultural engineering, centred on ideas of ‘enterprise culture’ and of ‘corporate culture’, are reviewed and both shown to be flawed by their weak conception of culture. A more convincing account of its importance is derived from work on regional development which emphasises the role of social networks and institutional thickness in enabling the growth of confidence and trust as preconditions for success. It is noted that these institutional conditions show some surprising similarities to traditional social features of rural areas, and so help explain the shift from failed strategies of rural development towards more integrated approaches. A number of examples of contemporary development practice in rural Wales are described, to support the suggestion that the attainment of sustainable economic and social development in rural areas depends upon creating social and institutional networks which embed change within the prevailing social and cultural resources of rural populations.     

Youth transitions and interdependent adult–child relations in rural Bolivia

There are few studies which document youth transitions from school to work in rural areas of the majority world. This paper, based on ethnographic fieldwork in a rural community in Bolivia, considers how young people make decisions about different types of school-to-work transitions which include migrating to continue their formal education, working in the community, or seeking migrant work in the regional town or in neighbouring Argentina. The paper explores how young people negotiate structural constraints over their choice of transition, including the rural location, economic resources, parental attitudes and family background, gender, birth order, social networks and role models. Importantly the paper highlights that underlying young people's choice of transition are interdependent household relations. In the majority world, in this case in Bolivia, rural young people may achieve economic independence sooner than those in the minority world, but long-term family interdependence tends to be maintained throughout the life-course. This paper suggests that the notion of negotiated interdependence is a more appropriate way to understand youth transitions and relations between young people and adults in rural areas of the majority world.     

Rural roots,rural routes: discourses of rural self and travelling other in debates about the future of Appleby New Fair, 1945–1969

The notion that Gypsies, in an idealised form, have a place in the rural idyll has been sufficiently influential within Geography that it currently features in our undergraduate texts concerned with the meaning of place. The position of real Gypsy-Travellers in the countryside is of course more complex, and this paper seeks to move the debate forward by examining how the group, who are still marginalised in geographical research, were portrayed by rural residents in the post-War period, and what these representations of a travelling other reveal about the nature of the rural self. The route in is through local print media reports about Appleby New Fair, a horse fair in Northern England which is one of the largest Gypsy-Traveller gatherings in Europe and a major tourist attraction. Analysis of this source highlights the contested position of Gypsy-Travellers in the country, and the lines of differentiation in rural society that these challenges to their position reveals. In so doing, the paper not only adds crucial texture to our appreciation of spatialised understandings of difference but also highlights the possibilities of radical openness in rural society, which contrasts with more common reactionary attempts to bound rural space.     

Spatial inequality of rural industrial development in China, 1989–1994

Rural industry, having benefited from market oriented reforms, has surpassed state owned industry and become the largest industrial sector in China since 1993. Using multiple indicators, this study reveals a highly unbalanced spatial distribution and an increase in inequality of rural industrial development. It also classifies the level of development at the provincial level from 1989 to 1994. The relationship between rural industrial development and internal and regional characteristics is analyzed by multiple regression analysis. A very high correlation between rural industrial development and regional market indicators resulted in the conclusion that rural industry is a market economic sector and its development is driven by market forces in China's dual economy. The spatial patterns of rural industrial development reflect the viable, even optimum, location patterns created by the experience of the market economy. Although government policies attempted to reduce the inequality of rural industrial development among regions, the widened gap between rich and poor in the period 1989–1994 demonstrated the strong impacts of the concentrating effects of market forces.     

Where do i fit in? factors influencing women's participation in rural communities

Participation in community life has been a topic of interest for many researchers and theorists. In rural areas, in particular, women play a major role in their communities, participating in a voluntary network which contributes countless hours to maintain important community services. However, little research has been undertaken which addresses women's social involvement and the factors which may inhibit or facilitate participation. This is of particular interest, owing to the lack of women's participation in committees and boards relating to resource management at state and national levels in Australia. In the present study, women across six rural shires in the south of Western Australia were asked to comment on their participation in personal and community networks and on their individual and family histories. These structured interviews were designed to allow women to define participation in their own terms, and identify factors that limit or facilitate their involvement in their respective communities. Detailed qualitative analysis revealed that in order to determine a woman's degree of involvement in her community, it is inappropriate to focus solely upon formal membership in community organisations. Participation within a rural context is not unidimensional, involving participation in family life, the farm, personal business and the community. Furthermore, participation was influenced by a number of factors which enhanced or inhibited involvement such as family status, lack of privacy, distance and the rural economy. These findings are discussed in relation to the literature on participation and community structure.     

‘Unconventional modes’ of transport in rural Britain: Progress to 1985

‘Unconventional modes’ of public transport have been perceived in some quarters as a valid new policy option for tackling rural accessibility problems in Britain. The nature of unconventional modes (UCMs) and community transport (CT) is explained. Within a changing policy context, the UCM/CT sector has expanded steadily over the last 20 years. It is expedient to review the status of these modes in 1985, immediately prior to the deregulation of the British bus industry. The distribution of the most common modal types is examined more closely. Despite recent expansion and official encouragement, the ability of UCMs to alleviate rural access problems is debateable, and their future role is uncertain.     

New rural livelihoods or museums of production? Quality food initiatives in practice

In recent years, the European Union’s stated commitment to the principle of multifunctionality within its Common Agricultural Policy has fostered a resurgence of interest in recovering and protecting the heritage and traditions associated with local agricultural products. In spite of, or perhaps because of, the growing political and economic salience of heritage-based initiatives, however, we argue that it is important to interrogate the meanings and assumptions that underlie notions of heritage and tradition. In this paper, we use case study research from France and Poland to explore the potential contradictions associated with heritage-based food systems. While quality initiatives create essential spaces for maintaining rural livelihoods in the face of the homogenizing trends in the global agro-food system, particularly for regions where traditional agriculture has been economically marginalized, they also have the potential to undermine local specificity and privilege powerful extralocal actors at the expense of local communities. We pay particular attention to how, in practice, these initiatives may (1) reduce the diversity of available products, (2) create static notions of culture and (3) fundamentally change or distort the character of products in promoting the shift from local to extralocal markets. Our analysis suggests that a more careful investigation of heritage-based initiatives’ vulnerabilities is warranted, particularly with respect to the varied nature of local contexts. Initiatives that merely codify cultural products without taking the social-organizational context into account risk becoming little more than “museums of production.”     

Long-term urbanization effects on tree canopy cover along an urban–rural gradient

Urban forestry can benefit from improved knowledge of urbanization??s effects on tree canopy cover (TCC), a prominent urban forest indicator. This study examined changes in TCC over a long time frame, with respect to land cover (LC) changes, and across municipal boundaries. Specifically, I used air photos at 14 dates from 1937 to 2009 to develop an exceptionally long record of TCC change in Minnesota??s Twin Cities Metropolitan Area. During the study period overall TCC nearly doubled from 17% to 33% while the proportion urban land cover rose by 47%, highlighting the opportunity for substantial TCC gains following urbanization in previously agricultural landscapes, even in regions that were forested prior to European settlement. Results demonstrate that more intensely developed sites generally had lower TCC, and older urban sites had higher TCC. Modern TCC was not adequately characterized by linear distance along the urban?Crural gradient, but instead peaked near the center of the gradient where mature residential neighborhoods are prevalent. Compared to other land cover changes, urbanization events caused the highest rate of immediate TCC loss (9.6% of events), yet urban areas had the second highest TCC (>35%) in 2009, indicating that urban land gained TCC relatively efficiently following development. The results of this study provide new historical context for urban forest management across an urban?Crural gradient, and emphasize the need to consider ecological legacies and temporal lags following land cover changes when considering TCC goals in urban settings.     

Hidden losers? The impact of rural refugees and refugee programs on poorer hosts

Refugee relief organizations and refugee studies have refugees as their 1st concern and focus. Adverse impacts of refugees on hosts are relatively neglected. When impacts are considered, they are seen in terms of host country governments, economies, and services rather than people or different groups among host populations. In rural refugee-affected areas, the better-off and more visible hosts usually gain from the presence of refugees and from refugee programs. In contrast, the poorer among the hosts can be hidden losers. This is more so now than in the past, especially where land is scarce and labor relatively abundant. The poorer hosts can lose from competition for food, work, wages, services, and common property resources. Vulnerable hosts also lack refugees' option of sending their weaker dependents to camps and settlements. Development programs in refugee-affected areas and refugee studies will do a disservice if they neglect adverse effects of refugees on vulnerable hosts. These effects further strengthen the case for development to benefit the whole population in refugee-affected areas (author's).     

‘Deprivation’ and ‘the rural’: An investigation into contradictory discourses

This paper investigates the issue of ‘rural deprivation’ using material collected for the Rural Lifestyles Project, conducted at Saint David's University College, Lampeter. The concept of ‘deprivation’ usually deployed within the literature in rural studies is problematic, and a number of criticisms are made about existing conceptualisations of the term. One of these criticisms is based on the finding that amongst respondents interviewed for the study of lifestyles in rural areas of England, a number were highly critical of the application of the term ‘deprivation’ to rural areas. This issue is explored through an investigation of the discourses of ‘the rural’, taken to mean a system of meanings that describe English rural areas. An examination of these discourses shows how ‘deprivation’ is denied, and this is investigated through a discussion of the representation of rural areas as problem-free and ‘idyllic’ in some way; through the portrayal of ‘deprivation’ as a fault of the individual; and through the construction of ‘deprivation’ as a feature of ‘the rural's’ ‘other’, i.e. the urban. The paper concludes with a call for the attitudes and beliefs of different groups of people living in rural areas to be taken account of in the production of research into lifestyles in rural areas.     

Continuity or rupture? Roma/Gypsy communities in rural and urban environments under post-socialism

The aim of the article is to contribute to existing research and debates on social change associated with the post-socialist transformation in Eastern and Central Europe. It does so by drawing attention to and examining the diversity of ways in which such change has been lived through and reflected upon by members of Roma (Gypsy) communities living in urban and rural environments. Drawing on ethnographic research amongst excluded and segregated Roma in the ‘ghettos’ of Czech cities and in rural ‘Gypsy settlements’ in the Slovak countryside, the author notes a striking difference between how members of these communities, belonging to the same extended families, lived through and reflect upon the post-socialist transformation. While the members of the Roma communities living in Czech cities perceive the post-socialist transformation as one of the most dramatic ruptures in their life trajectories, the rural Roma do not seem to have been affected as deeply and dramatically, and their life trajectories seem to be framed by different events than those directly associated with the market transition. The paper analyses and explains the social and historical conditions that (co)produce the sense of rupture or continuity in the life trajectories of members of Roma communities exposed to urban and rural environments.