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Communities in rural America are a complex mixture of peoples and cultures, ranging from miners who have been laid off in West Virginia, to Laotian immigrants relocating in Kansas to work at a beef processing plant, to entrepreneurs drawing up plans for a world-class ski resort in California's Sierra Nevada. Rural Communities: Legacy and Cha

This timely work reviews the best current thinking on practicing sustainable agriculture, with contributions from agricultural, biological, environmental and social scientists. The emphasis is on temperate zones, with many of the contributions addressing U.S. agriculture. However, the principles explored here have application in any climatic or geographical region. The book discusses stewardship, biodiversity, reliance on mixed food systems and other approaches, always with a view toward reducing environmental degradation, maintaining economic viability and stabilizing rural communities.

Rural Communities: Legacy and Change examines the diversity of rural America: its unique communities, histories, and social issues. It also considers how rural communities use their increasing connectedness to creatively address modern challenges in the face of increasing globalization and climate change. Focusing on various capitals in rural areas, natural, cultural, human, social, political, financial, and built, this book provides students with an essential framework for understanding rural society based on the concepts of social science. The fourth edition of Rural Communities covers vital issues such as: racial and cultural diversity in rural areas; globalization and increasing tensions over international immigration; the impact of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; the central role of communities in organizing a sustainable future; and building community in the context of ubiquitous change. Chapter opening vignettes present real people and communities, illustrating the application of concepts. Updated with 2010 Census data, the fourth edition features new coverage of local food movements, climate change, the impacts of the global financial crisis, and updates on immigration as it relates to rural societies.

Communities in rural America are a complex mixture of peoples and cultures, ranging from miners who have been laid off in West Virginia, to Laotian immigrants relocating in Kansas to work at a beef processing plant, to entrepreneurs drawing up plans for a world-class ski resort in California's Sierra Nevada. Rural Communities: Legacy and Change uses its unique Community Capitals framework to examine how America's diverse rural communities use their various capitals (natural, cultural, human, social, political, financial, and built) to address the modern challenges that face them.Each chapter opens with a case study of a community facing a particular challenge, and is followed by a comprehensive discussion of sociological concepts to be applied to understanding the case. This narrative, topical approach makes the book accessible and engaging for undergraduate students, while its integrative approach provides them with a framework for understanding rural society based on the concepts and explanations of social science.This fifth edition is updated throughout with 2013 census data and features new and expanded coverage of health and health care, food systems and alternatives, the effects of neoliberalism and globalization on rural communities, as well as an expanded resource and activity section at the end of each chapter.

Community Capacity and Resilience in Latin America addresses the role of communities in building their capacity to increase resiliency and carry out rural development strategies in Latin America. Resiliency in a community sense is associated with an ability to address stress and respond to shock while obtaining participatory engagement in community assessment, planning and outcome. Although the political contexts for community development have changed dramatically in a number of Latin American countries in recent years, there are growing opportunities and examples of communities working together to address common problems and improve collective quality of life.This book links scholarship that highlights community development praxis using new frameworks to understand the potential for community capacity and resiliency. By rejecting old linear models of development, based on technology transfer and diffusion of technology, many communities in Latin America have built capacity of their capital assets to become more resilient and adapt positively to change. This book is an essential resource for academics and practitioners of rural development, demonstrating that there is much we can learn from the skills of self-diagnosis and building on existing assets to enhance community capitals.Chapter 3 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.