Notes from the field: A “countryside parliament”

Abstract

Organizing to promote sustainable rural development requires activists to connect social, economic, and environmental issues and to bring together disparate rural interest groups. This note describes a Swedish event — the 1994 Countryside Parliament (Landsbygds Riksdag) — that provides food for thought about how rural issues and organizations might be more effectively integrated in the northeastern USA. Rural movement building, Swedish style, entails a strong emphasis on cultural rituals, open dialogue, inclusiveness, and a spirit of compromise.