Rural Communities

Stephen P. Gasteyer

"Rural Communities: Legacy and Change" is a well-organized, highly readable text introducing students to rural sociology. The use of personal vignettes to illustrate key concepts, and the theoretical Community Capitals Framework to facilitate the discussion of the different components of rural communities help students come to understand the dynamics of stability and change in rural communities. Liza Kuecker, Western New Mexico University Communities in rural America are a complex mixture of peoples and cultures, ranging from miners who have been laid off in West Virginia to entrepreneurs drawing up plans for a world-class ski resort in California's Sierra Nevada. "Rural Communities: Legacy + Change," uses a unique Community Capitals framework to examine how America s diverse rural communities use various capitalsnatural, cultural, human, social, political, financial, and builtto address the modern challenges facing them. Each chapter in the text opens with a case study of a community facing a particular challenge and is followed by a comprehensive discussion of the sociological concepts to be applied in understanding the case. This narrative, topical approach makes the text accessible and engaging for undergraduate students, while its integrative approach provides them with a clear framework for understanding rural society based on the concepts and explanations of social science. The fifth edition is updated throughout with 2014 census data and features new coverage of health and health care, the effects of income inequality and consumption on rural communities, as well as an expanded resource section at the end of each chapter. Cornelia Butler Flora is Charles F. Curtis Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University and Research Professor at Kansas State University. Jan L. Flora is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Sociology at Iowa State University and Research Professor at Kansas State University. Stephen P. Gasteyer is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Michigan State University."

Preface -- Introduction -- Community Capitals and the Rural Landscape -- Components of Rural Communities: The Community Capitals -- Natural Capital -- Cultural Capital -- Human Capital -- Social Capital and Community -- Political Capital -- Financial Capital -- Built Capital -- Community Capitals and Community Development in a Changing World -- The Global Economy -- Consumption in Rural America -- Governance -- Generating Community Change