Rural Theory: The Grounding of Rural Sociology.

As rural sociologists, we should be as clear as possible about our basic concepts and objects of study. From GaIpin (1915) on, defining the "rural" has preoccupied rural sociologists. Urban sociology recently faced a similar problem, and political economists reoriented the field by looking beyond the city to the social production of spatial forms. I apply a related critique to rural sociology, which has traditionally seen "rural' as cultural, ecological, or occupational. The two main explanations of rural culture, Germeinschaft and human ecology, are inadequate. The former is not specifically rural, and the latter obscures the structure of social relations. The recent proposal for a strictly rural ecology also fails in consider underlying political-economic determinants. I suggest in conclusion two constituents of rural: "capitalist space' in the form of uneven regional development; and the "mode of primary production" (including the occupational category). which is distinguished by its direct interaction with the natural environment. Rural sociologists have always focused on farming but are now beginning to treat agriculture, the other extractive industries, anti peripheral regions as crucial elements in the capitalist social system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]