Reinventing Rural: New Realities in an Urbanizing World

by Leanne M. Avery (Contribution by), Stephanie Bennett (Contribution by), Matthew Clement (Contribution by), Michael W.P. Fortunato (Contribution by), Gregory M. Fulkerson (Contribution by)

Overview

Reinventing Rural is a collection of original research papers that examine the ways in which rural people and places are changing in the context of an urbanizing world. This includes exploring the role of the environment, the economy, and related issues such as tourism. While traditionally relying on primary sector work in agriculture, mining, natural resources, and the like, rural areas are finding new ways to sustain themselves. This involves a new emphasis on environmental protection, as one important strategy has been to capitalize on natural amenities to attract residents and tourists. Beyond improvements to the economy are general improvements to the quality-of-life in rural communities. Consistent with this, the volume focuses on the two cornerstones of education and health, considering current challenges and offering ideas for reinventing rural quality-of-life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781498534109
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	10/19/2016
Series:	Studies in Urban-Rural Dynamics
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	246
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Dr. Gregory M. Fulkerson is associate professor of sociology at the State University of New York at Oneonta.

Dr. Alexander R. Thomas is professor of sociology at the State University of New York at Oneonta.
Stephanie Bennett is professor of communication and media ecology at Palm Beach Atlantic University.
Gregory M. Fulkerson, Ph.D., is professor of sociology and chair of geography and environmental sustainability at SUNY Oneonta. Along with Dr. Alex Thomas, he is co-editor of the Urban-Rural Dynamics book series. He is the author of Community in Urban-Rural Systems, and co-author of City and Country, Urbanormativity, and Critical Rural Theory. His research focuses on social capital, community development, globalization, the environment, and urban-rural issues.
Alexander R. Thomas, Ph.D., is professor of sociology at SUNY Oneonta. He is co-editor, with Dr. Gregory Fulkerson, of the Urban-Rural Dynamics book series. He has published numerous books and articles on cities and their relationship with the countryside, including In Gotham's Shadow, The Evolution of the Ancient City, and Critical Rural Theory. He is also author of the newly released book The Sociological Predicament.

Table of Contents

Part I. Cautionary Tales and the Costs of Traditional Rural Development
1. The Need to Reinvent Rural, Alexander R. Thomas and Gregory Fulkerson
2. Urban Dependency and Urbanormativity, Alexander R. Thomas
3. The Rural Mystique in American Society, Fern K. Willits, Gene L. Theodori, and Michael W.P. Fortunato
4. Reinventing Rural Environmental Justice, Laura McKinney
5. Urbanization, Land Use, and Environmental Change: A Sociological Perspective, Matthew Clement
6. Centralia, Pennsylvania: Disaster or Apathy? Carrie L. Kane and Alexander R. Thomas
Part II. Reinventing Rural in an Urbanizing World
7. Rural Economic Vitality, Gregory Fulkerson and Alexander R. Thomas
8. Build it and They Will Come? The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program and Jay Peak Resort, Aimee Vieira
9. What do They Do up There? A Look at Two Non-Metropolitan Counties in New York State, Stephanie Bennett
10. Reframing Rural Education: Implications of the Rural Mystique and its Absence in Educational Policy, Leanne M. Avery and Michael W.P. Fortunato
Chapter 11. Doggonit, People Live Here! The Unmet Challenges of Rural Behavioral Health, James Zians
12. Conclusion: Reinventing Rural Revisited, Gregory Fulkerson and Alexander R. Thomas

Editorial Reviews

Alexander R. Thomas and Gregory M. Fulkerson have put together a great academic but readable resource for those interested in understanding the profound changes occurring in rural America and the complexity of rural society today. In addition, they provide useful and interesting insights into how rural people and places can thrive and develop in the future by building off of their strengths.

Jessica D. Ulrich-Schad

Fulkerson and Thomas have provided rural scholars a valuable collection of perspectives, cases, and critiques of contemporary rural life. The volume is well-anchored in place, both through the use of the authors’ home region as a foil, and through careful selection of case studies. The approach is appropriately critical, urging (and helping) the reader move beyond classic stereotypes: it engages the rural mystique analytically rather that becoming dewy eyed, it carefully engages urban-rural synergies, pluralism in rural knowledge, and the rural manifestation of justice. The notion of reinventing rural is timely, useful, and moves the reader well past critique towards workable solutions.

Richard Clark Stedman

A dozen sociologists and interdisciplinary interlocutors theorize recent and ongoing transformations of rural life, with an overall geographical focus on the eastern and northeastern US. Topics covered include health, education, the “rural mystique,” tourism, environment, and economic revitalization efforts. Among studies of rural change, this volume is notable for its attention to the effects of energy development in rural areas, with chapters dedicating some attention to mountaintop removal techniques in mining, former coal towns, and oil/gas extraction. Several of the authors make instructive use of the concept of “urbanormativity,” which they define as the widespread tendency to cast urban lifeways as the default, with a resulting rural dependence on cities and easy degradation of rural life. Although the volume is enriched by careful case studies, many contributors are not shy about long-term and large-scale theorization of rural change, linking contemporary transformations to patterns of rural/urban interaction that extend back to the Neolithic and are shaped by the “planetary boundaries” of biodiversity, the nitrogen cycle, and climate change. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, faculty, specialists.

Choice Reviews

A dozen sociologists and interdisciplinary interlocutors theorize recent and ongoing transformations of rural life, with an overall geographical focus on the eastern and northeastern US. Topics covered include health, education, the “rural mystique,” tourism, environment, and economic revitalization efforts. Among studies of rural change, this volume is notable for its attention to the effects of energy development in rural areas, with chapters dedicating some attention to mountaintop removal techniques in mining, former coal towns, and oil/gas extraction. Several of the authors make instructive use of the concept of “urbanormativity,” which they define as the widespread tendency to cast urban lifeways as the default, with a resulting rural dependence on cities and easy degradation of rural life. Although the volume is enriched by careful case studies, many contributors are not shy about long-term and large-scale theorization of rural change, linking contemporary transformations to patterns of rural/urban interaction that extend back to the Neolithic and are shaped by the “planetary boundaries” of biodiversity, the nitrogen cycle, and climate change. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, faculty, specialists.

Choice

A dozen sociologists and interdisciplinary interlocutors theorize recent and ongoing transformations of rural life, with an overall geographical focus on the eastern and northeastern US. Topics covered include health, education, the “rural mystique,” tourism, environment, and economic revitalization efforts. Among studies of rural change, this volume is notable for its attention to the effects of energy development in rural areas, with chapters dedicating some attention to mountaintop removal techniques in mining, former coal towns, and oil/gas extraction. Several of the authors make instructive use of the concept of “urbanormativity,” which they define as the widespread tendency to cast urban lifeways as the default, with a resulting rural dependence on cities and easy degradation of rural life. Although the volume is enriched by careful case studies, many contributors are not shy about long-term and large-scale theorization of rural change, linking contemporary transformations to patterns of rural/urban interaction that extend back to the Neolithic and are shaped by the “planetary boundaries” of biodiversity, the nitrogen cycle, and climate change. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, faculty, specialists.

CHOICE