JCS Focus | Rural Sociology最新目录及摘要

Rural Development in the Digital Age: Exploring Information and Communication Technology through Social Inclusion

John J. Green

Approaching the interplay between social stability and social change as a complex network of “development pathways” and the routes people and communities take as their “livelihood journeys,” this Rural Sociological Society Presidential Address explores how information and communication technologies (ICTs) influence our capabilities to choose and navigate where to go and how to get there. Access and the literacy and skills needed for effective and safe use of ICTs are increasingly influential factors for livelihoods in the so-called digital age, impacting wellbeing and resilience. Rural-focused social scientists can help to inform livelihood journeys, especially by asking questions about the interplay between ICTs and social inclusion to involve often-overlooked spatial dimensions at the local and regional levels. Doing so will require dialogue, discernment, and active engagement on the topics we explore, the research methods we employ, and incorporation of the experiences, needs, and desires of rural people and places in policies and programs. As a professional association built on diverse scholarly traditions yet rooted in a shared interest for practical application for the benefit of often excluded people and places, the Rural Sociological Society has important roles to play in the digital age.

“Go Back To Where You Came From!”: Moral Economy of Land and the Politics of Belonging in Coastal Tanzania

Youjin B. Chung

This article examines how the threat of eviction by a transnational land deal in coastal Tanzania shaped competing narratives with which longtime residents and migrants defended and legitimated the moral economy of land: a widely shared customary norm that land belonged to those who cleared, occupied, and used it continuously for their daily provisioning, with or without title deeds. To counter the state's claim that all villagers were “invaders,” long-term residents appealed to their ethnic and ancestral connections to the land, while migrants invoked a broader idiom of agrarian citizenship that placed land entitlements at the heart of rural people's relationship with the state. Despite this divergence, nervousness similarly pervaded both group's narratives, due in part to the instability of the notion of ethnicity and autochthony in coastal Tanzania and people's historically informed sense of foreboding about state-sanctioned dispossession. The article draws on the analytic of assemblage to advance a more relational and dynamic understanding of the co-construction and performance of moral economy and rural identity. Analyzing how villagers imagine and articulate their identities, and how discourses of exclusion and belonging get deployed in conjunctures of displacement is critical to understanding the socio-material realities of rural life in Tanzania today.

Self-Employment, the COVID-19 Pandemic, and the Rural–Urban Divide in the United States

Samuel C. H. Mindes

Self-employed individuals faced numerous challenges amid the global health and economic crisis that was the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, rural and urban workers faced different challenges during the pandemic. This rural–urban disparity further complicates the impacts of self-employment and exacerbates inequalities resulting from gender, race, ethnicity, or immigration status. This study examines the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic across these categories in the United States using Current Population Survey data from May 2020 to May 2022. Comparing the wage and self-employment sectors across rural and urban areas, I examine the effects of individual, business, and geographic characteristics on the probability of work stoppages due to the health crisis. The analysis reveals that recovery from the pandemic was delayed among the self-employed, while additional education and full-time employment status can reduce work interruptions for these workers, as does working in select industries. Findings suggest that rural and urban minorities are more likely to face pandemic-related work disruptions, with key differences between formal and informal self-employment sectors. Specifically, self-employed Asians/Pacific Islanders and Native Americans were more adversely affected in rural areas. The study concludes with several policy and program recommendations to assist vulnerable workers, especially in the rural self-employment sector.

What Is Rural Well-Being and How Is It Measured? An Attempt to Order Chaos

Vanda Veréb,  Carla Marques,  Livia Madureira,  Carlos Marques,  Tigran Keryan,  Rui Silva

While a substantial body of literature has been built on rural well-being, due to the great heterogeneity of rural territories, the literature is highly fragmented, even contradictory. Moreover, no systematic review of the entire domain exists to guide rural decision-makers. Debated conceptualization, contradicting results, and pressing policy requirements make it timely to deliver a systematized state-of-the-art on rural well-being to anchor public policies in the rural development domain. By systematically reviewing the scholarly literature on rural well-being and all documents developed by government and private entities that academia highlighted as relevant to this subject, the study provides a bibliometric and thematic analysis of the domain without a time limit. Thirty-three rural well-being dimensions and over 9,000 indicators within these dimensions have been identified, their interconnections established and their relevance to international development goals highlighted. The study presents the structure and content of this indicator database and provides suggestions for rural researchers and policymakers on how to use it to build their own well-being framework. It also provides an overview of each rural well-being dimension by discussing the key theories, the main inconsistencies, the most relevant studies and authors, the fundamental measurement frameworks, and the indicators used.

Early Family Formation, Selective Migration, and Childhood Conditions in Rural America

Matthew M. Brooks,  Shelley Clark

Thirty years ago, rural Americans got married and had children at significantly younger ages than urban Americans. More recent data indicate that these differences persist today, but our understanding of what drives these differences remains limited. To address this gap, we (1) generate Kaplan–Meier estimates of the ages of the first marriage, first union, and first birth among those who lived in rural and urban areas in 2019, (2) evaluate the extent to which rural–urban differences in the timing of family formation reflect selective migration, (3) assess whether rural–urban differences in childhood SES and demographic characteristics further explain differences in timing, and (4) explore rural–urban differences by gender. We find substantial 4.3, 3.8, and 5.1-year gaps in the ages at which rural and urban women marry, start unions, and become parents, respectively. These gaps largely do not reflect selective migration. Differences in women's age of first birth are attributable to differences in childhood conditions, yet differences in marital and union timing remain unexplained. Rural–urban gaps in the timing of family formation are much larger among women than among men. These patterns of early family formation in rural America have critical implications for families' and children's well-being as well as rural depopulation.

What's Good for the Land is Good for the Farmer: Investigating Conservation-Related Variables as Predictors of Farmers' Job Satisfaction

Lijing Gao,  J. G. Arbuckle

Rising stress, mental health issues, and suicide rates among farmers highlight the need to understand factors influencing their job satisfaction. Farming presents distinct challenges with its unique mix of positive and negative characteristics. This study utilized dual-factor theory to investigate how various factors, such as economic dynamics, farm financial health, stewardship views, experience with extreme weather, and climate change concerns, influence farmers' job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Data from a 2020 survey of Iowa farmers were analyzed using ordinal logistic regression. Financial health, stewardship motivations, and perceived adequacy of conservation practices emerged as significant predictors of both job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Farmers' extreme weather events experiences were positively associated with job satisfaction, indicating successful coping enhances contentment. Conversely, climate change concern was negatively associated with job satisfaction. As a revenue protection strategy, faith in crop insurance was negatively related to job dissatisfaction. In summary, besides the anticipated positive impact of farm financial health, the findings show that job satisfaction in farming is linked to stewardship motivations and perceived adequacy of conservation practices on the farm. The results suggest an opening for policies and programs aligning financial and conservation goals, potentially enhancing long-term farmer well-being and sustainable agricultural practices.

Modern Technology in Rural Policing: Qualitative Analysis of Police Officers in Rural China

Haoran Xu

This study delves into the utilization of modern technology in rural policing, offering insights from front-line police officers operating in the Chinese context. As rural areas globally grapple with unique policing challenges, the significance of this research extends beyond the borders of China. Findings indicate that technology, particularly video surveillance and communication platforms such as WeChat, has enhanced the responsiveness and overall capabilities of rural policing. The study sheds light on the dual nature of this technological adoption, highlighting its positive impact on policing practices while unraveling challenges, such as burnout and sustainability concerns. Notably, the study reveals that despite financial constraints hindering equipment maintenance and technological development in rural police departments, collaborations with commercial entities provide a viable avenue to alleviate such constraints. The global resonance of these findings underscores the broader implications for rural policing practices worldwide, emphasizing the need for strategic technological interventions to address challenges and optimize policing effectiveness in rural areas.

Advances in Rural Criminology: A Review of Three Recently Published Books

Joseph F. Donnermeyer

The Rural Primitive in American Popular Culture

Michael R. Cope

《中国社会学学刊》（The Journal of Chinese Sociology）于2014年10月由中国社会科学院社会学研究所创办。作为中国大陆第一本英文社会学学术期刊，JCS致力于为中国社会学者与国外同行的学术交流和合作打造国际一流的学术平台。JCS由全球最大科技期刊出版集团施普林格·自然(Springer Nature)出版发行，由国内外顶尖社会学家组成强大编委会队伍，采用双向匿名评审方式和“开放获取”(open access)出版模式。JCS已于2021年5月被ESCI收录。2022年，JCS的CiteScore分值为2.0（Q2），在社科类别的262种期刊中排名第94位，位列同类期刊前36%。2023年，JCS在科睿唯安发布的2023年度《期刊引证报告》（JCR）中首次获得影响因子并达到1.5（Q3）。