Rural geographies in the wake of non‐representational theories

Abstract

AbstractNon‐representational theories have come to exert an influence on rural geographies. Geographers are engaging with rurality not just discursively, but as part of an assemblage of the embodied, practiced, and experienced elements of life. This paper reflects on the emergence of non‐representational theories and considers what non‐representational theories have brought to the study of rural geography to date. This recent work has considered diverse topics, from rural gentrification to an understanding of different demographic conceptualisations of rurality. The paper will consider further trajectories of where an embodied approach can take rural geographies, this includes assessing the challenges researchers wishing to engage with non‐representational theories may face, from methodological considerations to the debates surrounding the (re)presentation of research. The paper concludes by considering how rural geography can progress its engagement with non‐representational theories, through the expansion of empirical research informed by this theoretical approach.