Kategoria BISAC: Social Science >> Sociology - Rural

Life in rural Britain has changed beyond recognition since the beginning of the 20th century. Not only dramatic events such as the ban on hunting and mad cow disease but also the growth of the organic movement, changes in farming practices and increasing rural poverty have all had an effect on how we view the countryside and the people who live there. In The Contested Countryside, the authors put contemporary rural issues in their historical context, which they argue is essential in order to see modern problems in a clearer light--and perhaps even find some solutions.

The...

Foot and mouth disease and BSE have both had a devastating impact on rural society. Alongside these devastating developments, the rise of the organic food movement has helped to revitalize an already politicized rural population. From fox-hunting to farming, the vigour with which rural activities and living are defended overturns received notions of a sleepy and complacent countryside. Over the years "rural life" has been defined, redefined and eventually fallen out of fashion as a sociological concept--in contrast to urban studies, which has flourished. This much-needed reappraisal calls...

Small farming communities are the heart and soul of America, but it's no secret that they're under siege. Family farms are disappearing and manufacturing is outsourced. Schools close, jobs vanish, and local stores can't survive. Some communities resort to giving away land just to get people to move there.

Richard Wood knows that rural communities need more than jobs or money to survive: they need to become valued again as desirable places to live. He takes a closer look at what has happened in several Kansas...

Sallyann J. Murphey and her husband did what a lot of us have dreamt of but never quite built up the courage to do. In 1990, Murphey, who was a successful BBC producer, and her husband, Greg, a commercial photographer, left their high stress, hectic life in Chicago and moved to a dilapidated 40-plus-acre farm in Brown County, Indiana, hoping to raise their daughter in a more natural and less stressful environment. In Bean Blossom Dreams, Murphey warmly and humorously details life on the family's farm. Though Brown County might not offer the idyllic country life they were expecting,...