Introduction: Rural Cultural Studies

Abstract

This themed section of Australian Humanities Review seeks to establish the emerging field of 'rural cultural studies' firmly on the agenda of the contemporary humanities and social sciences. This is a timely intervention as rural Australia has featured increasingly over the last decade and especially over the last few years as a topic of national policy attention, public commentary and social analysis. If the notion of a crisis in rural Australia has become something of a one-sided cliché, the changes being faced in non-urban-rural, remote and regional-Australia are nonetheless significant, complex and widespread. For example, one of the topics for the federal 2020 Summit, 'Rural Australia', addressed future policy directions for rural industries and populations. In this wider context, the purpose of the present collection of papers is to argue for the significance of the cultural dimension-and the multiple dimensions of the cultural-in understanding the key issues of demographic change, economic productivity, environmental and climatic crisis, Indigenous/non-indigenous relations and land ownership, and the role of 'cultural' factors in the renewal, or potential renewal, of country towns and communities.The essays in this collection offer a range of perspectives representing the 'cultural turn' in rural studies and, indeed, the 'rural turn' in cultural studies. Rural cultural studies has been formed from the intersection of cultural history and cultural geography and from new developments within adjacent interdisciplinary fields including cultural and media studies, Australian studies and environmental studies. While cultural history and cultural geography may be interdisciplinary in themselves, they are still often separated from each other by disciplinary or institutional boundaries, perhaps most notably in the distinction that persists between the Social Sciences and the Arts or Humanities. Rural cultural studies offers one way, or rather several ways, of crossing these boundaries and thinking through how research questions, fieldwork and analysis may be enriched through multiple disciplinary perspectives.

Experiences of co‐designing research about a rural Aboriginal well‐being program: Informing practice and policy

“…The outline of the model is open and asymmetrical to symbolise that co‐design practice is dynamic and diverse across heterogenous, rurally located communities. 2 The Duguula Gayirray, Yandaarray and Duguula Nguraljili co‐design practice model aligns with the Indigenous concept of relationality, through a shared responsibility and accountability to each other, community and the research. 12…”

“…1 Privileging Aboriginal ways of knowing, doing and learning when undertaking research exploring Aboriginal health in rural contexts ensures that projects are meaningful and empower Aboriginal people and communities. 1 , 2 Aboriginal ways of knowing, doing and learning through Yarning together can affirm relationships that are based on trust, respect and mutual understanding through shared accountability. 3 Yarning together to co‐design research to explore the strengths of a rurally located Aboriginal group nutrition and exercise program offers an opportunity to challenge disempowering Western empirical evaluation measures and colonial perspectives.…”

Culture-Based Practices as Driver of Local Development Processes in Mountain Areas—Evidence from the Alpine Region of the Province of Cuneo (Italy)

“…Other studies [5,6] affirm that the role of culture in local development processes carried on in mountain territories still represents an unexplored field of research, but one with huge potential in terms of being able to support the construction of an agenda that promotes territorial development based on cultural practices as shown by some best practices inventoried in other European territories [7].…”

Modern Approaches to Studying Rural Everyday Life and Rural Culture in the Context of Rural Tourism Development

“…Культура может пониматься как вид экономической деятельности или объект политики, а также как участок этнических и религиозных конфликтов. Важно исследовать сельскую культуру путем задействования этих подходов, чтобы сложившееся представление о ней не было однобоким [17].…”