This chapter provides the first systematic description of the basic properties of low-frequency space-charge waves (SCWs) in photorefractive materials, and the effects caused by these weakly damped eigen-modes. The basic properties incorporate the dependences of the wave frequency and damping on the wavevector, and the restrictions on the material parameters necessary to ensure weakness of the wave damping. The unifying feature of the SCW effects is their resonant character. These effects include the known DC and AC enhancement of the photorefractive response (treated as the linear resonance), the subharmonic generation (treated as parametric excitation of SCWs), the low-frequency peculiarities of the nonlinear response, and also a number of effects caused by the joint action of the optical and material nonlinearities. While an exposition of the concepts lies at the center of this chapter, it also gives a review of experimental studies relevant to the subject matter and a historical sketch.