List of contributorsAcknowledgements1 KNOWING RURALITIES?Paul ClokeMoving beyond the rural idyllThe country and hybridityReading country visionsReferences2 REPRODUCING RURAL IDYLLSMichael BunceThe rural idyll in the rise of urban-industrialismImages of ruralContemporary communication and reproduction of the rural idyllSpaces of the rural idyllIdylls and counter-idyllsReferences3 THE RURAL GAZESimone AbramThe gazeSeparating the gazeRural, urban, suburban, subruralDiscussionNotesReferences4 RURAL MAPPINGSCatherine BraceIntroductionDiscovering the ruralCountryside and nationhoodConclusionNotesReferences5 DIFFERENT GENRES, DIFFERENT VISIONS? THE CHANGING COUNTRYSIDE IN POSTWAR BRITISH CHILDREN''S LITERATUREJohn HortonIntroduction1945-1969: ''classic'' representations of countryside1970s: ''politicised'' representations of countryside1980s: ''reactionary'' representations of countryside1997-: ''new'' representations of countrysideConclusionsNotesReferences6 THE VIEW FROM COBB GATE: FALLING INTO LIMINAL GEOGRAPHYMark LawrenceIntroduction: the background of the foregroundMoving targets: thinking about film and new visions of ruralityThe persistence of pastoralismThe unfinished liminal experience of simulationConclusionsReferences7 WORKING WITH CRABSDeborah DixonThe where of Eastern CarolinaAnimating the landscapeLocating people in the seafood sectorConstructing and placing ''labour''Giving meaning to the working bodyConclusionAcknowledgementNotesReferences8 LANDSCAPE, PERFORMANCE AND DWELLING: A GLASTONBURY CASE STUDYJohn WylieIntroductionLandscape and representation: metaphor and materialityLandscape from image to dwellingA Glastonbury case studyConclusionReferences9 SPIRITUAL EMBODIMENT AND SACRED RURAL LANDSCAPESJulian HollowayIntroductionRepresenting the sacred ruralEmbodying the sacred ruralArticulating a spiritual infralanguageConclusionReferences10 HOMOSEXUALS IN THE HEARTLAND: MALE SAME-SEX DESIRE IN THE RURAL UNITED STATESDavid BellThe homosexual ruralThe rural homosexualConclusionAcknowledgementsReferences11 NEW COUNTRY VISIONS: ADVENTUROUS BODIES IN RURAL TOURISMCarl Cater and Louise SmithThe increasing popularity of countryside adventuresAdventure and natureAdventurous placesThe ''adventure capital of the world''Inclusion and exclusionRepresentations of QueenstownPerforming adventureThe place of a rural settingNew rural spaces?References12 PSYCHOGEOGRAPHIES OF RURAL SPACE AND PRACTICES OF EXCLUSIONDavid SibleyIntroductionSplitting, psychotic anxieties and spatial defencesDefending rural spaceBoundaries and boundary crossingsExclusionary practiceRural asylum and the rejection of differenceConclusionNotesReferences13 THE DEVIL OF SOCIAL CAPITAL: A DILEMMA OF AMERICAN RURAL SOCIOLOGYCynthia Anderson and Michael BellIntroductionA new academic starJust what is ''social capital''?Outline of the critique of social capitalWhy so many sociologists have embraced the conceptCan we save the concept as part of the rural agenda?ConclusionNotesReferences14 APPLYING THE RURAL: GOVERNANCE AND POLICY IN RURAL AREASMichael Woods and Mark GoodwinIntroductionUnderstanding policy change: employing the concepts of governance and regulation in rural researchAnalysing the ''micro-circuits'' of rural powerConclusionNotesReferences15 CO-CONSTRUCTING THE COUNTRYSIDE: HYBRID NETWORKS AND THE EXTENSIVE SELFJonathan MurdochIntroducing hybridityHybrid events in the contemporary countrysideTheorising hybridityCountryside networksThe multiple spaces of hybridityRethinking the ''social'': rural identities and hybrid networksConclusion: towards theoretical pluralismReferences16 ''THE RESTRAINT OF BEASTS'': RURALITY, ANIMALITY, ACTOR NETWORK THEORY AND DWELLINGOwain JonesIntroductionAnimality and rurality: cultural constructions and corporeal presencesRural animal geographiesAnimals and the actant network approachSymmetry, extreme relationality and technologyAnimals as ''others'': their enrolment, intentionality and resistance''The restraint of beasts''ANT and ethics: networks and s.