Rural Geographies provides a critical, contemporary and accessible introduction to rural change by using geographical ideas to understand current issues affecting the countryside.
The book discusses how the countryside has been studied by geographers across a range of different scales, from village community to the global countryside. Each chapter provides a concise and well-illustrated introduction to a key theme in rural geography, using current literature and contemporary examples. The book is divided into four sections that cover rural contexts, changes, contests and cultures. The volume takes a global perspective but is largely centred on the Global North, reflecting the tradition of scholarship in rural geography.
Rural Geographies is driven by thinking in human geography. It reflects how major paradigmatic changes in the discipline have impacted, and have been informed by, the sub-discipline of rural geography. The aim is to introduce key ideas and concepts that will teach students the critical skills necessary to analyse rural issues themselves. The text will be a valuable resource for undergraduate students studying rural geography and rural studies.
Chapter 1. Introduction
Part I Contexts
Chapter 2: Where Is the Country?
Chapter 3: Doing Away with Rurality?
Chapter 4: Geographies of The Rural
Part II Changes
Chapter 5: Farming and Food
Chapter 6: Economic Restructuring
Chapter 7: Changing Representations of Rurality
Chapter 8: Changing Rural Lives
Part III Contests
Chapter 9: Poverty and Social Exclusion
Chapter 10: Policy and Governance
Chapter 11: Housing, Homelessness and Home
Chapter 12: Mobility and Immobility
Chapter 13: Sustainability, Resilience and Rurality
Part IV Cultures
Chapter 14: Rural Landscapes
Chapter 15: Performing Rurality
Chapter 16: Rural Others, Other Rurals
Chapter 17: Gender, Sexuality and The Body
Chapter 18: More Than Human Ruralities
Chapter 19: Conclusions
Biography
Richard Yarwood is Professor of Human Geography and the Director of the Doctoral College at the University of Plymouth, UK.