Living in the Rural - Community, Belonging and Inequality

1. SOC226 Rural Sociology
Topic 7
Living in the rural – community,
belonging and inequality

2. Topic objectives
• Understand the different ways in which
‘community’ is conceptualised, and the
implications for studying rural communities.
• Explain how processes of ‘belonging’ and
‘exclusion’ operate in rural communities.
• Understand how economic restructuring
affects the livelihoods and social identities of
those within rural communities.
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3. What does rural ‘community’ mean?
Older ‘descriptive’ perspectives
1. Structural-functionalism – focus on the
structural characteristics that are defining
features of rural community life.
2. Ethnographic approaches – focus on
documenting the lived experience and
practice of community.
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4. What does rural ‘community’ mean?
Newer perspectives
3. Cultural approach – focus on the cultural
meanings through which community is
constructed.
4. Social constructionism – focus on ‘the
mutual interaction of meanings, practices
and spaces, and structures’ (Woods, 2011,
p.166).
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5. Belonging
• Expressed in two ways: the sense of belonging
that members of a community feel towards (a)
each other, and (b) a territorial place (Woods,
2011, p.169).
• Practised in a range of ways, including through
membership of local organisations and clubs.
• Binds communities together and enhances ‘social
capital’.
• Can be a powerful resource when communities
are faced with external threats (e.g., natural
disasters; proposed development).
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6. Social divisions and exclusion
• A strong sense of belonging can result in a
suspicion and mistrust of ‘outsiders’.
• It also conceals social divisions that result in
belonging for some, but marginalisation or
exclusion for others based on: class, gender,
ethnicity, age, sexuality and religion.
• These divisions are maintained through social
norms as well as formal and informal practices of
surveillance.
• Behaviour and practices that do not conform may
become a locus for community conflict.
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7. Restructuring and rural communities
Dimensions of economic restructuring
• A move away from primary and secondary
industries.
• Closure of small businesses.
• Privatisation and/or withdrawal of public
services.
• Reduction of rural workforce.
Implications for rural livelihoods and social
identities?
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8. Restructuring and rural communities
Dimensions of social restructuring
• Out-migration from small rural towns.
• In-migration (sea and tree changers)
• Growth of mobile communities
Implications for rural community belonging
and social identity?
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