This volume paints a critical view of the state of rural data systems in America with a collection of contributions leading scholars in the social sciences arena. It places an important wake-up call social scientists engaged in rural research, alerting them to the problems of existing data systems.

This volume focuses on alternatives for non-metropolitan economic development in the new international economic climate. It provides critical reviews of popular employment-generation alternatives for rural areas.

A team of anthropologists, economists, geographers, political scientists, social workers, and sociologists examine the leading explanations for why poverty persists in rural America. Their findings discredit established theories such as the culture of poverty and suggest new explanations for rural poverty and new directions for antipoverty programs

This book captures the views of students of rural America on the serious state of affaire in rural South areas and on the strategies for stimulating improvements in the well-being of rural Southerners. It spurs policymakers, leaders, and rural residents to redress the ills of the rural South.

Crisis in rural America is by now an all too familiar complaint, yet the problems presented by changing demographics, economic decline, and increasing poverty persist. They have not vanished with a new administration. However, with a new farm bill in the offing, now is the time for a fresh initiative to assess the difficulties facing nonurban America and to offer positive solutions. Rural Policies for the 1990s, written by some of the foremost experts on rural America, focuses on policy-relevant research. Within a carefully crafted framework, the contributors present stimulating discussions on resolving problems and improving the situation in rural areas. Looking at the crucial issues of employment, demographics, environment, technology, and the global impacts of national and international policies, they offer a broad analysis that is neither regionally based nor biased. The result is not an advocacy book, but one that effectively enhances our understanding of the problems facing rural America and presents concrete proposals for revitalizing it.