Rural Representation Research Articles

Variations in perceptions of urban and rural health promotion competencies

Issue addressed: To identify perceptions of essential competencies by rural and urban-based health promotion practitioners. Methods: Data were collected using two rounds of a Delphi to rank competencies as either not relevant, a specific competency relevant to some but not all health promotion practitioners, a desirable or essential competency. The sample consisted of members of the Australian Health Promotion Association (AHPA) and the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) Special Interest Group in health promotion. A snowballing technique was also used to increase rural representation. Results: Two rounds of the Delphi resulted in 207 duplicate responses, 148 (72%) urban and 57 (27%) rural. Rural practitioners were significantly more likely to perceive the skills required to implement health promotion strategies as essential (t=-2.4, p=0.015). Statistically significant competencies in rural areas included media skills, research/evaluation skills and use of information technology. Conclusions: There are some significant variations in the perceived essential competencies required by rural health promotion practitioners. (author abstract)

A tale of two Japans: reform in a divided polity

The Japanese economy has been in crisis for more than a decade and, during this time, fiscal and other measures have failed substantially to restore the bases for sustainable growth. There have been many suggestions that the relevant authorities in Japan resort to inflationary strategies to overcome deflationary pressures or undertake large-scale regulatory reform to remove some of the supply-side obstacles to growth. In 2001, Koizumi Jun'ichir l became Japan's Prime Minister and immediately promised extensive structural and regulatory reforms. Despite the known adverse social consequences of reforms, the Prime Minister enjoyed high popular support and this permitted some optimism that the reform agenda would be implemented. A year later, however, very little progress has been made and this article looks at the political obstacles to reform, in particular the electoral support base of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). We analyse the LDP's representative base and suggest that, as a party with strong rural representation, it is unlikely to assume the mantle of a reformist political party, despite strong popular support for Koizumi's promised 'reform revolution'.

Measuring age differentials in representations of rurality in The Netherlands

The importance of representations of the rural in discussing the competition for rural space by different functions is increasingly acknowledged. It is known from the literature that these representations differ for specific groups of actors, but empirical measurement of such differences lags far behind conceptual discussions. In this paper we propose methodologies of classifying different representations and analysing these in the framework of a multinomial logit regression model. The analysis shows that visual-figurative images of the countryside are predominant. Elderly people tend to add a socio-cultural flavour to such images. Younger people, however, add functional representations of rurality to the visual-figurative image base. They often portray the countryside as a one-dimensional agricultural production zone. Such age differences will clearly have consequences for rural policies. In the first place in developing policies that are targeted towards specific age groups. In the second place in deconstructing age-related representations of rural policy makers themselves. What the exact consequences will be is however less clear. For that it is important to develop a methodology for separating age effects from cohort effects.

Representing rurality? New Labour and the electoral geography of rural Britain

The first Blair administration faced clamorous criticism from some lobby groups for its handling of rural issues. Yet Labour has presented itself as a ‘one–nation’ party representing both urban and rural areas. This paper examines the basis of recent claims about the parliamentary representation of rural Britain, and analyzes the results of the last two General Elections. It illustrates how the malleability of the category of ‘rural’ allows for contrasting claims about rural representation, and highlights the continuity of party representation among those constituencies located outside the main urban areas in the 1997 and 2001 parliaments, despite regular rural protest.

Rural landscapes, representations and racism: examining multicultural citizenship and policy-making in the English countryside

Traditionally issues of race and racism have tended not to be associated with the English countryside. The limited existing research in the area has shown that the presumed dominance of whiteness in the countryside has been used as a basis from which to dismiss the relevancy of race as a rural political or policy concern despite the existence of rural-based minority ethnic communities and despite high levels of rural racism. In the post Macpherson climate and with rural issues currently attracting political and policy attention this article examines the relationship between landscapes and belonging and suggests that racism is differently manifested in different contexts. The essay argues that there are recent indicators of tentative shifts among some rural policy-makers in terms of recognizing that racism is not an urban phenomenon and draws on the early experiences of gaining access to two rural case-study areas to shed light on both this shift and the notion that there are specifically rural forms of racism.

"Energizing" Rural Space: The Representation of Countryside Culture as an Economic Development Strategy

The last three decades have witnessed substantial changes in the role of rural spaces amid the restructuring of advanced capitalist economies and in the way that they are approached as a focus of inquiry. The significance of the "rural" is shifting from a production orientation (e.g., agriculture) to a consumption–oriented role (i.e., the symbolic value of a rural identity by which to market a particular place to inhabitants, investors, visitors, and funding sources). "Rurality" has become a dominant theme, characterized by its central concern with the construction and representation of appealing countryside identities. Strategic representations of rurality are most commonly achieved by valorizing the cultural and historical resources of a particular place and time. This paper examines the processes of "energizing" rural space in this manner by way of a site of a booming entertainment complex founded on Ozark themes in Branson, Missouri. A series of five assertions provide structure for the analysis.

Representations of rurality: Is Foxwoods Casino Resort threatening the quality of life in southeastern Connecticut?

The paper will examine the dimensions of rurality in southeastern Connecticut to understand whether the area is truly threatened by the continued existence of Foxwoods Casino Resort (a major tourist attraction), as the white residents of the area assert. Antagonism towards the casino and its alleged environmental threats are a response to the new economic muscle of the Pequots, owners of Foxwoods, who should have 'disappeared' following the Pequot War of 1637. The paper will demonstrate that the non-Indian residents of southeastern Connec ticut appreciate only an abstract aesthetic notion of 'rural' and that they are using this 'quality of life' narrative in an attempt to recover control over all land use in the region.

Putting together ruralities: towards a symbolic analysis of rurality in the British mass media

In recent years rural geography has become increasingly sensitised to the significance of rurality as a cultural construct. This paper examines the production and reception of mediated representations of rurality: that is, it focuses on senses of the rural conveyed by mass media such as television. The paper discusses claims that images of rurality can be understood as socio-spatialisations. It then focuses on the rurality of British rural drama programmes, and particularly on three such drama series: Dangerfield, Heartbeat and Peak Practice. Drawing together a textual analysis of these programmes with research on their production and consumption, we explore the rurality produced through these television dramas, paying particular attention to the presence, and absence, of idyllic notions of the countryside. We suggest that while these programmes do enact idyllic constructions of rurality, their rurality is not simply reducible to this. We will also highlight how these programmes may also enact particular social identities, including, but not exclusively, those of class. We argue in particular that the three drama series can be read as conveying, in a range of ways, senses of middle-classness. The overall argument of this paper is hence that the mediated ruralities of British rural drama programmes are enactments of social and spatial imaginaries, the complexity and effect of which are often ignored in their textual reduction to a middle class idyll.

Woop Woop(s) and Woolly Film-making: Rural representations of culture in contemporary Australian feature film

(2000). Woop Woop(s) and Woolly Film-making: Rural representations of culture in contemporary Australian feature film. Rural Society: Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 319-327.

Review: Rural Scenes and National Representation: Britain, 1815-1850, by Elizabeth K. Helsinger

Review: <i>Rural Scenes and National Representation: Britain, 1815-1850</i>, by Elizabeth K. Helsinger

La notion de rural et les rapports ville-campagne en France Les années quatre-vingt-dix

The concept of ruralityand the relation between town and country during the nineties in France The significance of rurality in the present process of social change and spatial allocation cannot be estimated without taking into account the prevailing « urban » and « rural » symbolisation as well as the conception of their relation. During the nineties in France the dominant social representation of rurality is idyllic when at the same time the city is considered unsustainable. The rural way of life is so valorised that new real dynamics of migrations are observed.

Constructions of Rural Women's Voluntary Work

ABSTRACT This article examines the nature and circumstances of women's voluntary work in rural communities. Drawing on original research conducted in two villages in Avon, England, it focuses on three main themes. Firstly, it considers theoretical debates on the conceptualisation of rural women's labour, arguing that traditional divisions between public and private forms of work provide an inadequate basis for understanding either women's labour participation or their domestic lives. The notion of voluntary work as a third sphere is discussed as it relates specifically to the rural labour market and community. Secondly, the article examines voluntary work in terms of the empowerment of women. It addresses issues of women's role and status in the rural community, questioning whether the state's use or reliance on voluntary work in rural areas represents an exploitation of women's position or an opportunity for women to gain influence and power. Thirdly the article evaluates the contribution of women's voluntary work to the conceptualisation and representation of rurality. The focus here is on the way in which voluntary activity supports a particular form and image of the rural community and, in turn, the implications this has for gender divisions and women's identity in contemporary rural England.

Breaking down the divisions?: A case study of political power and changing rural local government representation

Rural local government in Australia has long been acknowledged as an arena of political power, where certain individuals and groups benefit more than others (see McIntyre & McIntyre 1944, Oeser & Emery 1957, Wild 1974, Gray 1991a). However, little, if anything, has been documented on how changes in patterns of representation might alter local government power structures. This paper aims to add to sociological knowledge through an investigation of change in local government representation, and of how such change affects the structure of power in rural local authorities, using the Longreach Shire, in Queensland, as a case study. With a particular focus on the Queensland Local Authority Electoral System, I analyse the basis of representation and power, and how changes to this structure might have altered Longreach local government power relations.

Globalization and the Representation of Rurality: Alpine Open‐Air Museums in Advanced Industrial Societies

Sociologia RuralisVolume 36, Issue 1 p. 4-26 Globalization and the Representation of Rurality: Alpine Open-Air Museums in Advanced Industrial Societies Adolf Ehrentraut, Adolf Ehrentraut Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Windsor, Windsor, CanadaSearch for more papers by this author Adolf Ehrentraut, Adolf Ehrentraut Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Windsor, Windsor, CanadaSearch for more papers by this author First published: April 1996 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9523.1996.tb00002.xCitations: 9AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume36, Issue1April 1996Pages 4-26 RelatedInformation

OUT OF PLACE IN THE COUNTRY: TRAVELLERS AND THE “RURAL IDYLL”

A controversial new Criminal Justice and Public Order Act in Great Britain contains measures to curb the lifestyles of a group known collectively as “New Age Travellers”. This paper examines these travellers as “folk devils” of the Conservative “New Right” on a number of levels: their lifestyle does not conform to that espoused by authoritarian or libertarian Conservatism; moreover, they violate the spatial order of contemporary British society by trespassing against the dominant social representation of the countryside — the “rural idyll”. In Parliamentary debates speakers drew on the rural idyll to defend the exclusivity of access to the countryside. Notably, whilst Gypsies were seen as having a legitimate if highly marginalized position in the rural representation, few saw any place for New Age travellers.

Rural representation in Queensland state parliament

Rural representation in Queensland state parliament

Urban and Rural Representation and State Legislative Apportionment

The complexion of societies and civilizations change, often with amazing rapidity. A nation once primarily rural in character becomes predomi nantly urban. Representative schemes once fair and equitable become archaic and dated. (Chief Justice Warren, in Reynolds v. Sims.)

Urban and Rural Representation and State Legislative Apportionment

Urban and Rural Representation and State Legislative Apportionment