The Community in Rural America

Far from being the bucolic paradise that is often imagined, the rural areas of this country are afflicted with chronic economic hardship, severe forms of alienation, and the lack of a foundation for community development or for the enhancement of economic, social, and educational opportunities for rural people. In this study, Kenneth P. Wilkinson examines the critical state of rural life in America, its causes and possible cure. Following a critical review of research and theories on the subject, he proposes a new theoretical perspective that focuses on community interaction as a necessary basis for social well-being.
Wilkinson first looks at what rural sociologists have had to say about the meaning and consequences of community as a form of social organization. He next analyzes the profound problems of community organization that affect rural locations, especially the deficits that block the formation of the infrastructure, networks, and facilities that are necessary to community development. Focusing on community interaction, he takes issue with the popularly held theory that grassroots action holds the key to rural problems. In a concluding discussion of policy issues and research challenges, he argues instead that outside intervention will be needed to remove rural barriers to community development before progress can occur on any significant scale. This study advances our understanding of both theoretical and practical issues in rural community development and suggests an agenda for both research and policy initiatives. The Community in Rural America will be relevant to the subjects of rural sociology, resource economics, community development, and rural planning.

Politics & Social Sciences

Wilkinson, Kenneth P.

Social Sciences

Praeger

The Community in Rural America, by Kenneth P. Wilkinson, is a foundational theoretical work that both defines the interactional approach to the study of the community in rural areas and frames its application to encourage and promote rural community development. Recognized for its detailed theoretical construction and logic for understanding human interactions, this book has been widely adopted and used by researchers, extension faculty, and community development practitioners for over thirty years. Presenting Wilkinson’s groundbreaking work in its original form, with a new foreword aimed at clarifying several key concepts in interactional theory, this edition of The Community in Rural America will appeal to new students of the community as well as established scholars in the field.

The Community in Rural America (Society and Natural Resources Book Series)

Sociology

University Press of Colorado

The Community in Rural America by Kenneth P. Wilkinson remains one of most significant texts on the interactive dynamics of U.S. communities written in the past 50 years. Originally published in 1991, Wilkinson carefully synthesizes the most important contributions to Community Sociology from the 20th century, which had redefined the community phenomenon as a "field of interaction" located in a local population, before expanding upon the concept of the Community Field to address community well-being and development in the "turbulent environment of rural America in the 1990s." The book remains as helpful to scholars interested in community today as when it was originally published due in part to Wilkinson's clear and concise articulation of these important concepts.

Society and Natural Resources Press

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Books by Wilkinson, Kenneth P.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Wilkinson, Kenneth P.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Community in Rural America

The Community in Rural America (Society and Natural Resources Book Series)

The Community in Rural America