Social movements and rural politics

Social movements are an increasingly prominent feature of rural politics and social action in both the global north and the global south, attracting the growing attention of rural researchers as both agents and products of social and political transformation. From the land rights movements of Latin America and Africa, to peasant farmers’ organizations in Asia, to progressive campaigns and rural community initiatives in Europe and North America, to radical farmers’ groups in Europe, North America and Australia, to indigenous peoples’ movements, back-to-the-land pioneers and environmental protests—rural restructuring has created the space for a mobilization of new rural social movements that are actively engaged in the processes of re-making rural society.