"A compilation of policy-relevant research by a multidisciplinary group of scholars on the state of families in rural America in the twenty-first century. Examines the impact of economic restructuring on rural Americans and provides policy recommendations for addressing the challenges they face"--Provided by publisher.

The report highlights the diverse challenges facing rural areas, their unused potential, and the inability of sectoral policy alone to address these challenges.

For many scholars, the study of community and community development is at a crossroads. Previously dynamic theories appear not to have kept pace with the major social changes of our day. Given our constantly shifting social reality we need new ideas and research that pushes the boundaries of our extant community theories. Theory, Practice, and Community Development stretches the traditional boundaries and applications of well-established community development theory, and establishes new theoretical approaches rooted in new disciplines and new perspectives on community development. Expanded from a special issue of the journal Community Development, Theory, Practice, and Community Development collects previously published and widely cited essays, as well as new theoretical and empirical research in community development. Compiled by the editors of Community Development, the essays feature topics as varied as placemaking, democratic theory and rural organizing. Theory, Practice, and Community Development is vital for scholars and practitioners coming to grips with the rapidly changing definition of community.

Rural societies around the world are changing in fundamental ways, both at their own initiative and in response to external forces. The Routledge International Handbook of Rural Studies examines the organisation and transformation of rural society in more developed regions of the world, taking an interdisciplinary and problem-focused approach. Written by leading social scientists from many countries, it addresses emerging issues and challenges in innovative and provocative ways to inform future policy. This volume is organised around eight emerging social, economic and environmental challenges: Demographic change. Economic transformations. Food systems and land. Environment and resources. Changing configurations of gender and rural society. Social and economic equality. Social dynamics and institutional capacity. Power and governance. Cross-cutting these challenges are the growing interdependence of rural and urban; the rise in inequality within and between places; the impact of fiscal crisis on rural societies; neoliberalism, power and agency; and rural areas as potential sites of resistance. The Routledge International Handbook of Rural Studies is required reading for anyone concerned with the future of rural areas.

The second volume in a series designed to keep agricultural leaders abreast of the most up-to-date information concerning global agriculture, Perspectives in World Food and Agriculture, Volume 2 brings together cutting-edge agricultural research and the latest views on agricultural policy. Written by internationally renowned researchers, scientists, and academics, Volume 2 includes: The UN's approaches to address global food security and poverty An essay by the World Food Prize Laureat Globalization, emerging diseases, and invasive specie Environmental sustainability Plant-derived vaccines, antibiotic bans, and health impacts The future of agricultural biotechnology The pivotal role of agriculture in human developmen Global agricultural statistics and projections Aimed at faculty, undergraduate and graduate students in colleges of agriculture, policy makers, government and industry scientists, public libraries, farmers and agribusiness operators, this book is key to keeping current on agricultural research and policy.