The modernist project foresaw no role for small farms, but this can no longer be regarded as axiomatic as neoliberalism enters what Peck et al. call its "zombie phase". This paper asks what contribution small farms in the uplands can make to societies' goals, what role they might play in the sustainability of rural communities in such…

Rural and development sociology studies have tended to credit globalization with low-wage, extractive, environmentally destructive outcomes. Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) have been treated as a local manifestation of the destructive tendencies of globalization. However, recent scholarship on globalization suggests that…

Progress toward rural development has been hampered by flawed views of rural America; serious limitations to existing social and economic data on sparsely populated areas; treatment of rural America as a geographical entity unconnected to the larger U.S. economy and society; perceived lack of feasible political solution to rural problems; and…

This report identifies those federal programs that are essentially rural and pursue economic development purposes. Using the 10 Beale population codes, 2,097 of the 3,096 U.S. counties, containing 16% of the U.S. population, were defined as rural (had urban populations of less than 20,000). The approximately 800 federal domestic assistance…

Current interpretations of central Appalachia's chronic poverty focus on the region's economic dependence on the bituminous coal industry, controlled by absentee investors and serving an external market. Such theories overlook the ways in which the agricultural sector shaped subsequent industrial development. By analyzing the farm economy of 16…

This bibliography consists of 72 publications related to agricultural development, community development, rural development, economic development, and rural sociology. The entries, all published in the 1980s, and available from the National Agricultural Library's (NAL) Rural Information Center, are broken down as follows: 32 journal articles; 15…

Information gathered from various countries around the world is presented in this general guide to help school administrators and teachers relate primary and secondary education to the realities and problems of rural agriculture and life. Topics include curricula, syllabuses and programs, teacher training and orientation, new teaching techniques…

The lower Mississippi River delta region comprises 214 counties in Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Illinois. The region is heavily dependent on agriculture and contains unusually high proportions of small farms, poor farmers, and black farmers. A conference planned by the region's 13 land-grant institutions and…

This report addresses current economic conditions in rural America and offers recommendations about the role the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) can play in providing rural development. The Task Force identifies issues for rural policy in the 1990's focusing on economic development. Current rural programs are described and…

This book contains a series of essays based on public lectures delivered by six agricultural economists during the 1986-1987 academic year at Western Michigan University. Some of the main issues and problems addressed in the essays are the role of technical change in agricultural development, the value of learning from historical and comparative…

A study of the nature and functions of Canada's Agricultural and Rural Development Act (ARDA) and related legislation at federal and provincial levels is presented. The study was commissioned in September of 1966 by the Canadian Council on Rural Development for the purpose of encouraging a greater public understanding of the assumptions, concepts,…

Evaluating current rural development research, the paper covers 6 major areas: (1) the nature and purpose of research; (2) circumstances related to rural development that require careful attention; (3) observations on rural development "disorganization" as an "outsider" might view the situation; (4) an opinion about the focus…

Recent emphasis on industrial and urban development is described as a factor contributing to the greatly accelerated flight from the land. The concept of rural redevelopment is examined along with educational policy changes needed for rural redevelopment. The author's stated opinion is that rural redevelopment in the United States and other…

In April 2000, over 250 rural leaders from around the nation gathered in Kansas City, Missouri, to discuss rural America's future, its challenges, and policies to meet those challenges. Conference participants agreed that the current pattern of uneven rural growth is likely to persist and that agriculture will remain a key sector in the rural…

Prepared by the Task Force on Rural Development Research (appointed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture), this analytical directory gives primary emphasis to 133 Rural Development 1 (RD1) research projects which were "active" projects between January 1 and June 30, 1973 in 13 Northeastern state agricultural experiment stations and the…