Rural Geography

Description:
'Michael Woods has taken on the formidable task of giving an overview of rural places and society in advanced economies as a single author and has presented a book that rightly deserves to be called state-of-the-art' - Geographische Rundschau 'For those students with an interest in rural change, this 'state of the art' book is essential reading' - Brian Ilbery, University of Coventry 'With Rural Geography Michael Woods remedies the often underestimated dynamism of rural places and rural society by providing the much-needed synthesis of the European and North American literature on rural restructuring and globalization processes' - Patrick H Mooney, University of Kentucky Rural Geography is an introduction to contemporary rural societies and economies in the developed world. It examines the social and economic processes at work in the contemporary countryside - including the more traditional: like agriculture; land use; and population; as well as wider themes like: rural health, crime, exclusion, commodification; and alternative lifestyles.With a contextualising section defining the rural, the text is organised systematically in three principal sections: - Processes of Rural Restructuring - Responses to Rural Restructuring - Experiences of Rural Restructuring Using the most recent empirical material , statistical data and research, the text is global in perspective using comparative examples throughout. Rural Geography is a systematic introduction to the processes, responses, and experiences of rural restructuring.

Review:
'Michael Woods has taken on the formidable task of giving an overview of rural places and society in advanced economies as a single author and has presented a book that rightly deserves to be called state-of-the-art' - Geographische Rundschau 'For those students with an interest in rural change, this 'state of the art' book is essential reading - Brian Ilbery, University of Coventry 'With Rural Geography Michael Woods remedies the often underestimated dynamism of rural places and rural society by providing the much-needed synthesis of the European and North American literature on rural restructuring and globalization processes' - Patrick H Mooney, University of Kentucky

Table of Contents:
INTRODUCING RURAL GEOGRAPHY Defining the Rural Understanding the Rural PART TWO: PROCESSES OF RURAL RESTRUCTURING Globalization, Modernity and the Rural World Agricultural Change The Changing Rural Economy Social and Demographic Change Changing Communities Restructuring Rural Services Environmental Change and Rural Areas PART THREE: RESPONSES TO RURAL RESTRUCTURING Rural Policy and the Response to Restructuring Rural Development and Regeneration Rural Governance Selling the Countryside Protecting the Countryside Rural Conflicts PART FOUR: EXPERIENCES OF RURAL RESTRUCTURING Changing Rural Lifestyles Living in the Countryside Housing, Health and Crime Growing Up and Growing Old in the Countryside Working in the Countryside Hidden Rural Lifestyles Poverty and Social Exclusion Rurality, National Identity and Ethnicity Alternative Rural Lifestyles PART FIVE: CONCLUSION Thinking Again about the Rural