The rapidly changing nature of life in Canadian rural communities is
more than a simple response to economic conditions. People living in
rural places are part of a new social agenda characterized by
transformation of livelihoods, landscapes, and social relations -
these profound changes invite us to reconsider the meanings of
community, culture, and citizenship.
"Social Transformation in Rural Canada" presents the work of
researchers from a variety of fields who explore the dynamics of social
transformation in rural settlements, looking at them not simply as
places affected by external forces, but as incubators of change and
social units with agency and purpose.
In a break with a common approach to this issue, the authors pay
attention to such factors as local forms of action, adaptation,
identity, and imagination in examining the ways in which rural life in
Canada - including within Aboriginal communities - is
changing. Mobility, leadership, and the arts are among the issues that
figure in these stories of transformation, and many open a window onto
parts of rural Canada that are providing exemplary models for other
communities. The book's case studies, drawn from various regions
of Canada including the far North, present a rich and diverse portrait
of a country undergoing tremendous change that affects people from all
walks of life.John R. Parkins is an associate professor in the
Department of Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology at the
University of Alberta. Maureen G. Reed is a professor
in the School of Environment and Sustainability and the Department of
Geography and Planning at the University of Saskatchewan.
Contributors: Marilyn Baptiste, Darin Barney,
Jonaki Bhattacharyya, Ryan Bullock, Christopher Bryant, Ken J. Caine,
Emily Jane Davis, Nancy Duxbury, Greg Halseth, Lorelei L. Hanson,
Carol-Anne Hudson, Belinda Leach, Don Manson, Martha MacDonald,
Catherine Murray, Ross Nelson, Howard Ramos, Bill Reimer, Laura Ryser,
Ruth Wells Sandwell, David Setah, Peter Sinclair, Chris Southcott, Mark
C.J. Stoddart, Deatra Walsh, Roger William, Yoko Yoshida, and Nathan
Young

The rapidly changing nature of life in Canadian rural communities is more than a simple response to economic conditions. People living in rural places are part of a new social agenda characterized by the transformation of livelihoods, landscapes, and social relations, changes that invite us to reconsider the meanings of community, culture, and citizenship. This volume presents the work of researchers from a variety of fields who explore social transformation in rural settlements across the country. The essays collectively generate a nuanced portrait of how local forms of action, adaptation, identity, and imagination are reshaping Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities in rural Canada.