Theories Methods In Rural Community Studies

This volume is the result of an international comparative research project entitled "The Future of Rural Communities in Industrialized Societies". The presentation of national studies led to discussions on the methods of local studies, on their theoretical basis and on their scientific and practical use. It is these discussions which are featured in this book. The national studies themselves are now published by Pergamon Press in volumes I and II of Rural Community Studies in Europe, with a third volume to come.

Rural Community Studies in Europe: Trends, Selected and Annotated Bibliographies, Analyses, Volume 3 examines trends as well as the different schools of thought, the various methods applied, and the differing attitudes toward the problems of rural communities in Europe. Rural community studies in Austria, Denmark, Greece, Yugoslavia, and the USSR are presented. This volume is comprised of five chapters and begins with a historical overview of rural community studies in Austria, paying particular attention to village studies. The discussion then turns to trends and developments in Denmark, Greece, Yugoslavia, and the USSR. Although the rural community studies examined are very different, a common framework is used for their presentation based on the following: circumstances, orientations and method; ecology; demography; agricultural economy; non-agricultural economy; family and kinship; domestic group; way of life, collective behavior; ideology and social regulations; communications; groups, classes and social stratification, institutions; global system. Each chapter is followed by an annotated bibliography. This book will be of value to sociologists, social scientists, and scholars interested in rural communities.

For many scholars, the study of community and community development is at a crossroads. Previously dynamic theories appear not to have kept pace with the major social changes of our day. Given our constantly shifting social reality we need new ideas and research that pushes the boundaries of our extant community theories. Theory, Practice, and Community Development stretches the traditional boundaries and applications of well-established community development theory, and establishes new theoretical approaches rooted in new disciplines and new perspectives on community development. Expanded from a special issue of the journal Community Development, Theory, Practice, and Community Development collects previously published and widely cited essays, as well as new theoretical and empirical research in community development. Compiled by the editors of Community Development, the essays feature topics as varied as placemaking, democratic theory and rural organizing. Theory, Practice, and Community Development is vital for scholars and practitioners coming to grips with the rapidly changing definition of community.

This book describes a wide-ranging set of research approaches which have been used to study the health care problems of adults living in rural areas. It shows how these approaches can be used to define health care problems, measure levels of illness and health, and evaluate health care practices. For each approach, contributors provide a theoretical background from the health care delivery literature, details of how it can be carried out in the field, its strengths and weaknesses, and illustrative examples from both the literature and their own work.

Based on data collected through in-depth fieldwork observation and interviews in Bai Township, this book examines how women with disabilities in rural Southwest China compensate for their disability identity through marriage. As the first book to theorize the married life of rural-based women with different types of disabilities, it provides a more holistic picture of their marital life by tracing the marriage process from mate selection to wedding ceremony, reproduction and role performance. It also generates a substantive theory grounded in the real experiences of women living with disabilities with Jing Yang arguing that these women are not passive victims in the marital process, but active agents who endeavour to minimize the risk of abuse and maximize security and satisfaction in their marriage. By examining the effects of fertility, patriarchy and village society on women with disability, this book will be of huge interest to students and scholars of many disciplines, including disability studies, sociology, social work, women's studies and Chinese culture and society.

Rural societies around the world are changing in fundamental ways, both at their own initiative and in response to external forces. The Routledge International Handbook of Rural Studies examines the organisation and transformation of rural society in more developed regions of the world, taking an interdisciplinary and problem-focused approach. Written by leading social scientists from many countries, it addresses emerging issues and challenges in innovative and provocative ways to inform future policy. This volume is organised around eight emerging social, economic and environmental challenges: Demographic change. Economic transformations. Food systems and land. Environment and resources. Changing configurations of gender and rural society. Social and economic equality. Social dynamics and institutional capacity. Power and governance. Cross-cutting these challenges are the growing interdependence of rural and urban; the rise in inequality within and between places; the impact of fiscal crisis on rural societies; neoliberalism, power and agency; and rural areas as potential sites of resistance. The Routledge International Handbook of Rural Studies is required reading for anyone concerned with the future of rural areas.

In this brief (80 pages of text) presentation of his dissertation research, Larrison (social work, U. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) describes findings linked to his field research in villages in Veracruz, Mexico. The theory, method, and effectiveness of top-down versus bottom-up development are described at length. The approaches of several organizations involved in rural development in Mexico are then described more briefly. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR