RURAL CHANGE AND SUSTAINABILITY: AGRICULTURE, THE ENVIRONMENT AND COMMUNITIES; ED. BY STEPHEN ESSEX

This book draws upon selected, revised and edited papers from a conference of rural geographers from the UK, USA and Canada, held at the Universities of Plymouth and Exeter. It focuses on rural regions, which are facing conflicting demands, pressures and challenges, which themselves have far-reaching implications for rural space and society. Themes that occur throughout the book include agricultural change, environmental issues, rural communities, governance and globalization, and rural responses to these. 1. Rural change and sustainability: key themes - Andrew Gilg, Stephen Essex and Richard Yarwood. 2. Fordism rampant: the model and reality, as applied to production, processing and distribution in the North American agro-food system - Michael Troughton. 3. Feedlot growth in Southern Alberta: a neo-fordist interpretation - Ian MacLachlan. 4. People and hogs: agricultural restructuring and the contested countryside in agro-Manitoba - Douglas Ramsey, John Everitt and Lyndenn Behm. 5. Global markets, local foods: the paradoxes of aquaculture - Joan Marshall. 6. Alternative or conventional? An examination of specialist livestock production systems in the Scottish-English borders - Brian Ilbery and Damian Maye. 7. Agritourism: selling traditions of local food production, family, and rural Americana to maintain family farming heritage - Deborah Che, Gregory Veeck, and Ann Veeck. 8. Re-imaging agriculture: making the case for farming at the agricultural show - Lewis Holloway. 9. Stewardship, 'proper' farming and environmental gain: contrasting experiences of agri-environmental schemes in Canada and the EU - Guy M. Robinson. 10. Stemming the urban tide: policy and attitudinal changes for saving the Canadian countryside - Hugh J Gayler. 11. Vulnerability and sustainability concerns for the U.S. High Plains - Lisa M. Butler Harrington, Kansas State University. 12. Environmental ghost towns - Chris Mayla. 13. Interpreting family farm change and the agricultural importance of rural communities: evidence from Ontario, Canada - John Smithers. 14. Engagement with the land: redemption of the rural residence Ffantasy? - Kirsten Valentine Cadieux. 15. Mammoth Cave National Park and rural economic development - Katie Algeo. 16. Assessing variation in rural America's housing stock: case studies from growing and declining areas - Holly R. Barcus. 17. The geography of housing needs of low income persons in rural Canada - David Bruce. 18. Social change in rural North Carolina - Owen J. Furuseth. 19. Finding the 'region' in rural regional governance - Ann K. Deakin. 20. Corporate-community relations in the tourism sector: a stakeholder perspective - Alison M Gill and Peter W Williams. 21. Resource town transition: debates after closure - Greg Halseth. 22. Narratives of community-based resource management in the American West - Randall K. Wilson. 23. Youth, partnerships and participation - Christine Corcoran. 24. Conclusion - John Smithers and Randall Wilson This book, consisting of 24 chapters, draws upon selected, revised, and edited papers from the 5th British-American Rural Geography Symposium held in Devon in July 2003. It focuses on rural regions in the UK, the USA, and Canada that are facing conflicting demands, pressures and challenges, having far-reaching implications for rural space and society. The contributions are grouped under four themes: agricultural responses; environmental issues; communities; and governance. The chapters in the agriculture section illustrate how productivism has responded to and survived changes in world markets and pressures for greater environmental sustainability. In the environment section, two themes emerge: the emergence and evolution of public policies to encourage environmental protection; and the vulnerability and sustainability of rural communities in light of emerging environmental hazards and changes. All the chapters in the third section show that rural communities are continuing to experience profound social, economic and demographic change. The chapters in the last section focuses on new forms of governance that blend and empower actors from the public, private and voluntary sectors. They show that the rhetoric of community and locality-based participation is emerging in the way decisions are made about rural places. The book has a subject index "This book draws upon selected, revised and edited papers from a conference of rural geographers from the UK, the USA and Canada, held at the Universities of Plymouth and Exeter. It focuses on rural regions that are facing conflicting demands, pressures and challenges, having far-reaching implications for rural space and society. Themes that occur throughout the book include agricultural change, environmental issues, rural communities, governance and globalization, and rural responses to these."--Jacket