Rural Sociological Society

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Rural Sociological Society is a professional association founded in 1937 that brings together scholars, practitioners, and students concerned with rural life in the United States and internationally. The Society connects historians, demographers, geographers, agriculturalists, and public policy analysts through conferences, journals, and advocacy, linking work by figures associated with land-grant universities, United States Department of Agriculture, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, and other institutions. It interacts with organizations such as American Sociological Association, International Rural Sociological Association, National Farmers Union, World Bank, and Food and Agriculture Organization, and its membership often includes faculty from Iowa State University, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Texas A&M University, Cornell University, and Michigan State University.

History

The Society emerged during debates over rural decline and agricultural modernization in the 1930s, alongside initiatives like the New Deal and programs led by the Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps. Early members were influenced by scholars connected to University of Chicago, Columbia University, Ohio State University, University of Minnesota, and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and by policy actors at the Bureau of Agricultural Economics and National Research Council. Over decades the Society engaged with movements and events such as the Great Depression, Dust Bowl, Green Revolution, Civil Rights Movement, and the expansion of Interstate Highway System, shaping research agendas that intersected with work from figures affiliated with the Russell Sage Foundation, Carnegie Corporation, National Science Foundation, and Environmental Protection Agency.

Membership spans academics, extension agents, nonprofit leaders, and students from organizations and institutions including Smithsonian Institution, Library of Congress, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, and National Association of Extension 4-H Agents. Governance is managed by an elected executive council, officers often drawn from universities like Penn State University, Rutgers University, University of Florida, University of Arizona, and North Carolina State University, and guided by bylaws modeled after associations such as American Political Science Association and Modern Language Association. Committees reflect ties with funders and partners such as Fondation de France, EU Commission, California Department of Food and Agriculture, and Canadian Agricultural Partnership.

The Society publishes peer-reviewed journals and monographs that have featured work by scholars connected to Emile Durkheim-inspired frameworks, Max Weber-derived approaches, and contemporary analysts influenced by research from Amartya Sen, Elinor Ostrom, Robert Putnam, James C. Scott, and Pierre Bourdieu. Its flagship journal has published studies comparing phenomena in regions like Appalachia, Great Plains, Corn Belt, Patagonia, and Sahel, and has drawn on datasets from the United States Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, World Health Organization, and International Labour Organization. The Society sponsors working papers, edited volumes, and special issues on topics addressed by thinkers from Bruno Latour, Donna Haraway, Rachel Carson, Vandana Shiva, and Paul Farmer.

Annual meetings convene scholars who present research alongside partners such as American Association of Geographers, Rural Development Institute, International Food Policy Research Institute, and Society for Applied Anthropology. Conferences feature plenaries with speakers affiliated with Harvard University, Princeton University, Yale University, Stanford University, and University of California, Berkeley, and panel sessions on themes linking to reports by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, United Nations Environment Programme, USDA Economic Research Service, and National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The Society grants awards named for prominent contributors and institutions connected to Julius Sterling Morton, George Washington Carver, Martha Van Horne (example), and partners such as Smith-Lever Act-focused extension programs, recognizing excellence in teaching, research, and applied work.

Scholars affiliated with the Society have influenced policy debates on land tenure, rural health, migration, and agricultural technology, engaging with policy arenas including Congress of the United States, State Legislatures of the United States, European Parliament, World Trade Organization, and North American Free Trade Agreement-era discussions. Criticism has come from activists and scholars associated with La Vía Campesina, People's Movement for Human Rights Learning, Environmental Justice Movement, and postcolonial critics connected to Edward Said-inspired perspectives, who argue that some research reflects biases toward neoliberal development models promoted by institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Debates continue about representation of Indigenous organizations such as National Congress of American Indians and Assembly of First Nations in the Society's work, and about engagement with movements including Black Lives Matter and Sustainable Development Goals initiatives.

Category:Professional associations based in the United States Category:Sociology organizations Category:Rural studies