The Rural Review

An online journal produced in conjunction with the Rural Reconciliation Project.

The Rural Review publishes digests of important academic contributions, program information, blog-style commentary, and periodic roundups of rural items from across academic disciplines and scholarly media.

Contributions from interested authors are welcome. Find our author guidelines here.

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Wolters et al.: Sustainability Initiatives in Rural Cascadia

In Small and Rural Local Government Environmental Sustainability Plans, Programs and Policies in Cascadia: A Comparative Analysis, Erika Allen Wolters, Brent S. Steel, and Sadaf Farooq (all Public Policy, Oregon State), and Tamara Krawchenko (Public Administration, University of Victoria) examine the environmental sustainability efforts of small and local governments within the “Cascadia” region which spans British Columbia, Oregon, and Washington.

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Villavicencio-Pinto: Property Regimes and Climate Adaptation

In Beyond the Agro-export Boom: The Challenges of Land Concentration and Fragmentation in Chile, Eduardo Villavincencio-Pinto (Kent Law School, UK) examines the neoliberal rural property regime in modern Chile and its implications for how the country can meet the challenges of climate change. The author conducted a study of rural Chilean property ownership, evaluating two main trends: land concentration and land fragmentation. Employing a historical, cartographic, and socio-legal approach, Villavincencio-Pinto shows how both trends have had negative effects on the rural landscape in Chile and challenges the sustainability of this foundational system.

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Hisey et al.: Fears and Fences: Bison on the Canadian Prairies

In Fears and Fences: Social and Material Barriers to Plains Bison on the Canadian Prairies, authors Forrest Hisey, Melissa Heppner (both Geography, Geomatics, and Environment, University of Toronto, Mississauga), and Andrea Olive (Political Science, University of Toronto, Mississauga) conduct a qualitative study to determine the largest barriers to the “rewilding” of bison on the Canadian Great Plains with a particular focus on the colonial attitudes that conflict with Indigenous groups’ efforts to reintroduce bison.

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Dunlap et al.: A Dead Sea of Solar Panels

In ‘A Dead Sea of Solar Panels’: Solar Enclosure, Extractavism and the Progressive Degradation of the California Desert, Alexander Dunlap (Global Development Studies, University of Helsinki), Benjamin Sovacool and Bojana Novaković (both Institute for Global Sustainability, Boston University) discuss the spread of solar energy projects in the Mojave desert and the overlooked negative impact both on the environment and the people who live there.  

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Walsh et al.: Rural Journalists and Environmental Reporting

In Gleaning Rural Journalism: Rural Journalists' Agricultural and Environmental Reporting Utilizing Community Storytelling Networks, authors Jessica Walsh (University of Nebraska-Lincoln), Mildred F. Perreault, Greg Perreault (both of University of South Florida), and Ruth Moon (Louisiana State University) examine how rural journalists report to their communities about the environment.

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Rosenbloom: Sacrifice Zones

In Sacrifice Zones, author Johnathan D. Rosenbloom (Albany Law School) proposes a new way to address issues present at the intersection of climate change and land zoning laws.

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Franz & McNelly: Finance, Extraction, and the Green Transition

In The “Finance-Extraction-Transitions Nexus”: Geographies of the Green Transition in the 21st Century, Tobias Franz (Economics, University of London, UK) and Angus McNelly (International Relations, University of Greenwich, UK) break down the relationship between finance capital, mineral extraction, and the environmental and the societal implications of the green transition.

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