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Social Change and Restructuring in Rural Societies:
Opportunities and Vulnerabilities

Both the pace and the scope of social and economic changes affecting the lives of rural people and the contexts of rural communities appear to be accelerating in all corners of the world. Agriculture and extractive industries, long the mainstays of rural economies and cultures, have become less central to rural life in many areas for many reasons: technology-induced reductions in labor needs, consolidation and restructuring in agricultural and resource industries, depletion of natural resource reserves, expansion of urban development patterns into formerly rural landscapes, and the damaging effects of global climate change.

Long-term, persistent poverty remains deeply embedded in many rural communities worldwide, and is becoming even more widespread in some settings as a result of economic restructuring, political upheavals, the devastation resulting from warfare and violence, and the disruptive effects of both natural and man-made disasters. At the same time, some rural areas are experiencing patterns of development and change that promise to substantially enhance the viability of communities and levels of well-being among rural populations.

Shifting migration patterns are bringing diversity and sometimes, conflict, along with new growth and development thereby creating opportunities for revitalizing community organizations and social structures in many areas, including those characterized by high natural amenity values and those able to attract or retain sustainable businesses and industries.

Innovative new approaches to fostering rural entrepreneurship, expanded application of community-based systems for addressing the use and management of land and resources, and strategies for enhancing the level and effectiveness of civic engagement have the potential to improve economic and social well-being in many rural settings.

These and many other change patterns portend significant vulnerabilities as well as new opportunities for rural societies. They also represent important areas for research designed to improve our understanding of the sources and implications of such change, and to better inform efforts to enhance levels of well-being experienced by rural people, families and communities. The 2007 annual meeting of the Rural Sociological Society provide an excellent opportunity for us to advance the state of knowledge about rural social change, and to make that knowledge more accessible and useful to practitioners and policy-makers.

Richard Krannich
RSS President Elect
Department of Sociology
Utah State University
0730 Old Main Hill
Logan, UT 84322-0730
Tel: 435/797-1241
Fax: 435/797-1240
Email: rkranich@hass.usu.edu

Michael Smith
2007 Program Chair
Department of Environment and Natural Resource Sciences
Humboldt State University
1 Harpst Street
Arcata, CA 95521-8299
Tel: 707/826-4291
Fax: 707/826-4145
Email: 2007rssmeeting@humboldt.edu