Rethinking Rural Studies

Rethinking Rural Studies presents an explicitly trans-disciplinary perspective on rural social science. David L. Brown and Mark Shucksmith identify emerging issues and research avenues on the topic, highlighting opportunities for rural studies to contribute towards greater collective wellbeing. This timely book moves away from a binary division of rural and urban to posit that rural and urban areas are closely interrelated through social, economic, demographic and environmental processes. The authors emphasize the central role that power plays in structuring vulnerabilities and opportunities, and indicate the emerging possibilities caused by greater rural agency. Ultimately they argue that this is a critical time to rethink rural studies, asking how and what rural studies can contribute towards better rural futures. Written in an accessible style, this book is an invigorating read for scholars of sociology, human geography, planning and urban studies and population studies. The sustained focus on how social science research can promote social and spatial justice and equality also makes this an important read for those studying inequality.