Oxford University Press Persistence and Change in Rural Communities: A Fifty Year Follow-up to Six Classic Studies

In the 1930s and 1940s the US Department of Agriculture undertook detailed studies of six US rural communities representing various patterns of social and economic change that were affecting rural America. These studies became classics in the literature on rural communities, and for the past half-century have helped to develop major theoretical perspectives in community sociology. Fifty years later the same study areas were revisited by a team of rural sociologists, with the goal of assessing what changes have occurred and what community characteristics have persisted. This book assesses these changes in rural life. "This volume is an important addition to the sociological literature on rural communities. "Willis Goudy, The Agricultural History Review, 2003 Review "This small volume makes an important contribution to the literature on rural communities."--CHOICE "This small volume makes an important contribution to the literature on rural communities."--CHOICE "This small volume makes an important contribution to the literature on rural communities."--CHOICE "I commend the authors' and editors' work, and recommend the book to anyone interested in any aspect of rural community life. One can only hope that the present volume does not suffer the same fate as the original studies - to be often quoted but little used as a catalyst for rural change.""This volume is an important addition to the sociological literature on rural communities."