2027 Annual Meeting July 27 - July 30, 2027 - Kansas City, Kansas

 Conference Theme

Policies, Politics, and the Wellbeing of Rural People and Places

The wellbeing of rural people and places in the United States and around the world is shaped deeply by policy decisions across numerous domains made at multiple levels of government. Yet rural perspectives are frequently absent from policy design, and the effects of policies on rural communities sometimes differ from their intended outcomes. At the same time, political dynamics, including polarization, shifting ideological landscapes, and growing divergence of policy regimes across regions and jurisdictions, and growing distrust in science and scientists are transforming the contexts in which rural families and communities navigate daily life. These dynamics intersect with ongoing demographic shifts—population loss and aging in some places, diversification and growth in others—to shape rural wellbeing. But rural people are not passive recipients of these forces. Communities respond, adapt, and push back, and what happens in rural areas reverberates well beyond rural borders.

The 2027 Annual Meeting invites scholars and practitioners from across disciplines to examine how policies and politics influence the wellbeing of rural people and places in the United States and around the world—and how rural communities respond to, resist, and reshape the political forces acting upon them. We welcome submissions that address multiple dimensions of wellbeing, including but not limited to economic wellbeing, livelihoods, education, families, health and longevity, housing, food security, social belonging and relationships, crime, civic participation, environmental quality and sustainability, and community cohesion. We also welcome presentations that consider how policies and politics intersect with demographic trends to influence wellbeing. Our goal is to advance understanding of the roles of policies and politics in shaping rural wellbeing, strengthen the evidence base needed to inform sound policy, and engage with rural scholars and practitioners on how to effectively translate scholarship to public and policy audiences in ways that build trust and influence.