A study in two Norwegian villages focused on the local gas station and the Internet cafe as "technospaces" for rural youth cultures--spaces at the intersection of technology and human interaction. The car and the Internet were given different symbolic and utility values in various youth subcultures. Local contexts influenced technology…

Responds to Philo's article calling for rural studies to focus research on marginalized groups and communities within rural areas. Recommends a reconstructed sociology of postmodernism that would end the use of global concepts such as "rural" and focus on the ways in which power relations contribute to the construction of rurality (and…

Responds to an article by Murdoch and Pratt appearing in this journal issue that questions the view that rural research needs to focus on marginalized groups and communities and that calls for a reconstructed sociology of postmodernism. Clarifies the author's views on postmodernism and the concept of "rurality" and his theoretical…

A community survey examined socioeconomic characteristics and community participation patterns in a rural Canadian area in which recreational cottages were being converted to full-time homes by urban retirees. Compared to long-time residents, "converters" were more likely to be older and more educated, to have no children at home, and to…