Editing Rural sociology (section)

===Europe===

'''History of European Rural Sociology'''

Though Europe included more agricultural land than the United States at the turn of the twentieth century, European rural sociology did not develop as an academic field until after World War II.<ref>Hofstee, E.W., Rural Sociology in Europe, Annual Meetings of the Rural Sociological Society (Washington, D. C., 1962); Kötter, Herbert, The Situation of Rural Sociology in Europe, 7 Sociologia Ruralis 3, 254-294 (1967).</ref>  This is partially explained by the highly philosophical nature of pre-war European sociology: the field’s focus on broad scale generalizations largely erased rural-urban difference. European sociology in the early 1900s was also almost entirely siloed within European academia, with little cross Atlantic pollination. Practical applications and research methods employed by Land Grant Colleges,<ref>Act of July 2, 1862 (Morrill Act), Public Law 37-108; Friedland, W.H., Who killed rural sociology? A case study in the political economy of knowledge production, 17 International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food 1, pp. 72–88 (2010).</ref>  the Country Life Commission,<ref>Bailey, H et al., Report on the Country Life Commission (1909), available at https://www.fca.gov/template-fca/about/1909_Report_of_The_Country_Life_Commission.pdf</ref>   and early American rural sociologists like W.B. Du Bois <ref>See Rubaka, Reiland, Du Bois and the Early Development of Urban and Rural Sociology, in W.E.B. Du Bois (2017).</ref>  were also well beyond the strictly academic sphere in which European sociologists resided.<ref>E.W. Hofstee, Rural Sociology in Europe, Annual Meetings of the Rural Sociological Society (Washington, D. C., 1962); Lowe, P., Enacting Rural Sociology: Or what are the Creativity Claims of the Engaged Sciences?, 50 Sociologia Ruralis 4 (2010).</ref>  The concerns of rural people, farmers, and agriculture were simply outside the attention of most European sociologists at that time.

Post war, European academic institutions began to understand that “there was something useful in the activities of those queer people who called themselves rural sociologists.”<ref>E.W. Hofstee, Rural Sociology in Europe, Annual Meetings of the Rural Sociological Society (Washington, D. C., 1962).</ref> Stronger relationships between American and European sociologists developed in the late 1940s,  which was reflected in the Marshall Plan of 1948.<ref>Lowe, P., Enacting Rural Sociology: Or what are the Creativity Claims of the Engaged Sciences?, 50 Sociologia Ruralis 4 (2010).</ref> The Plan formalized the United States as a source of information and economic guidance for postwar Europe and allocated the equivalent of 100B in 2023 dollars to help Europe rebuild, especially its food systems and machinery needed to expand agricultural production.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-09-28 |title=Marshall Plan (1948) |url=https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/marshall-plan |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=National Archives |language=en}}</ref> With this aid came an infusion of empirical rural research designed to promote rural growth and agricultural success.

The United States’ influence was reflected in pedagogical changes to include rural sociological methods pioneered by American rural sociologists, particularly statistics. Education met increased government demand for sociological expertise brought by European reconstruction and a growing understanding of the importance of sociological understanding to policy making.<ref>Lowe, P., Enacting Rural Sociology: Or what are the Creativity Claims of the Engaged Sciences?, 50 Sociologia Ruralis 4 (2010); Hofstee, E.W. The relations between sociology and policy, Sociologia Ruralis 331–345 (1970)</ref>

While the mid 20th century saw rural sociological research in most European nations driven by government need, rural sociology as an academic discipline was rare in general universities.<ref>Mendras, H., "Les études de sociologie rurale en Europe" (Rural Sociologic Studies in Europe), 1 Sociologia Ruralis, 1, 15-34 (1960).</ref>  This was due in part to the lack of university agricultural programs but also a general resistance to applied sciences.<ref>Hofstee, E.W., Rural Sociology in Europe, Annual Meetings of the Rural Sociological Society (Washington, D. C., 1962).</ref>  Where rural sociology classes did exist, an emerging divergence from the American model presented itself in European’s treatment of culture as an independent variable in rural sociological research.<ref name="ReferenceA">Id.</ref>  E.W. Hofstree, by all accounts the grandfather of European rural sociology, observed why cultural difference was of particular importance in Europe:

"In Europe, not only between the different nations but also between an infinite number of regional and even local groups within every country, there are differences in culture, which influence the behaviour of those groups considerably.... it will take a long time before Europe will show the same basic culture everywhere, and I must say that, from a personal point of view, I hope that it will take a very long time."<ref name="Hofstee, E.W pp. 329">Hofstee, E.W. Rural sociology in Europe. Rural Sociology 28 pp. 329–341 (1963).</ref>

This departure from America’s more homogenous treatment of rural culture<ref>See Bailey, H et al., Report on the Country Life Commission (1909), available at https://www.fca.gov/template-fca/about/1909_Report_of_The_Country_Life_Commission.pdf</ref> grounded the field in methods that require community-level planning before technical change or community development can occur.<ref>Lowe, P., Enacting Rural Sociology: Or what are the Creativity Claims of the Engaged Sciences?, 50 Sociologia Ruralis 4 (2010)</ref> These differences somewhat receded the 1950s and 60s, when European rural sociology shifted away from sociocultural study and towards the facilitation of modern agricultural practices.<ref name="arc2020.eu">{{Cite web |last= |date=2022-07-14 |title=On Meaningful Diversity: Reflecting on 75 years of Rural Sociology at Wageningen University |url=https://www.arc2020.eu/on-meaningful-diversity-reflecting-on-75-years-of-rural-sociology-at-wageningen-university/ |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=Agricultural and Rural Convention |language=en-US}}</ref> This shift was driven by government interest in policy change as well as the perception that “backward [European] farmers [are] backward not only socially and culturally, but also economically and technically.”<ref>Hofstee, E.W., Rural social organization, 1 Sociologia Ruralis 1, 105–117 (1960).</ref>

After relatively united beginnings, European rural sociology faced internal disagreements about pedagogy, focus, and direction in the 1970s.<ref>Benvenuti, B et al, The Current Status of Rural Sociology, 15 Sociologia Ruralis 1 (1975).</ref>  Many felt the field had strayed too far from its sociocultural roots, become too empirical, and overly aligned with government.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Critics were particularly concerned by the field’s seeming disregard for consideration of social interaction and culture, and encouraged a return to earlier modes of rural sociology that centered community structure. Ultimately, the field regained it balance between empiricism and sociocultural and institutional study in the 1980s.<ref name="arc2020.eu"/> Considerations of European rural sociologists have since expanded to include food systems, rural-urban interface, urban poverty, and sustainable development.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Outside formal academic programs, rural sociology organizations and journals were founded in the 1950s, including Sociologia Ruralis—which still publishes today— and the European Society for Rural Sociology (ESRS). Founded in 1957 by E.W. Hofstee, the ESRS welcomes international membership, including professional rural sociologists as well as those interested in their work and holds regular congresses that promote cross boundary collaboration and the growth of rural sociology research.<ref name="Hofstee, E.W pp. 329"/> Its liberal internationalism and inclusivity makes it a unique interdisciplinary organization that stands somewhat apart from academia and splits its focus between theory and applied research.<ref>Lowe, Phillip, Enacting Rural Sociology: Or what are the Creativity Claims of the Engaged Sciences?, 50 Sociologia Ruralis 4 (2010).</ref> For example, in 2023, the ESRS’s congress included working groups on diverse topics, including rural migration, population change, place making, mental health, and the role of arts and culture in sustaining rural spaces.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Working groups {{!}} ESRS2023 - XXIXth European Society for Rural Sociology Congress - Crises and the futures of rural areas |url=https://esrs2023.institut-agro-rennes-angers.fr/working-groups-0 |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=esrs2023.institut-agro-rennes-angers.fr |language=en}}</ref>

'''Rural Spaces in Europe'''

The relevance of Rural Sociology to the European continent is undeniable. 44% of the EU’s total land is considered “rural,” with the Union’s newest countries including even higher percentages (upwards of 50%). More than half the population of several member states, including Slovenia, Romania, and Ireland, live in rural spaces.<ref name="europenowjournal.org">{{Cite web |title=From Past Practices to Future Directions in European Studies |url=https://www.europenowjournal.org/2020/06/02/from-past-practices-to-future-directions-in-european-studies/ |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=www.europenowjournal.org |language=en-US}}</ref>

While the definition of rurality in Europe has traditionally included all “non-urban” spaces academia’s definition of the term is in flux  as more residents move to liminal spaces (sub-urban, peri-urban, ex-urban).<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Unlike the United States,<ref>Sun L, Chen J, Li Q, Huang D., Dramatic uneven urbanization of large cities throughout the world in recent decades. Nat Commun. 2020 Oct 23;11(1):5366. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-19158-1. PMID 33097712; PMCID: PMC7584620.</ref> European populations in urban areas are shrinking, with a noted uptick in migration back to rural and intermediary spaces over the last two decades, and especially since the end of COVID-19 lockdowns.<ref name="europenowjournal.org"/> These increasingly populated rural spaces are being met with greater economic development and tourism in the last two decades.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-12-07 |title=Employment and growth - European Commission |url=https://agriculture.ec.europa.eu/data-and-analysis/employment-and-growth_en |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=agriculture.ec.europa.eu |language=en}}</ref> As of 2020, 44% of Europe’s population was categorized as “intermediate”, and only 12% reside in urban space.<ref name="europenowjournal.org"/>

Despite these changes, focus on rural issues has been largely siloed within rural sociology programs. Between 2010 and 2019, the Council for European Studies hosted only one panel on Rural issues (Farm, Form, Family: Agriculture in Europe).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rurality in Europe |url=https://www.europenowjournal.org/2020/11/09/rurality-in-europe/ |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=www.europenowjournal.org |language=en-US}}</ref> There are signs this may be changing. Europe Now, a widely distributed mainstream academic journal, recently devoting an entire article to the intersection of European and rural studies, including articles challenging the continued applicability of the urban-rural dichotomy, land access, food, resource use disparity, and culture.  This move towards interdisciplinarity reflects the human and topographical geography of Europe writ large, and foreshadows possible integration of rural sociology into mainstream academic discourse.<ref>See Ducros, Helene D., Rurality in Europe, Council for European Studies, Europe Now Journal (2020) (noting the absence of “rural topics at Europeanists’ generalist conferences”) available at https://www.europenowjournal.org/2020/11/09/rurality-in-europe/#:~:text=In%20the%20EU%2C%2044%20percent,is%20considered%20to%20be%20rural.</ref>