Constructing Rural Geographies in Publication

Abstract

The paper compares American and British scholarship in rural geography. It argues that, among other reasons for the difference in “rural geography” between the two countries, their distinct publication strategies offer insights for potential interventions. To sketch how the field has been differently construed on opposite sides of the Atlantic, the article first examines several sub-disciplinary literature reviews. It then adds a materialist account to a performative perspective of subdisciplinary formation by exploring how the publication industry helped shape distinct relationships between rural geography and theory. We suggest that rural geographers in the US might use new publication strategies to intervene in the shaping of a distinctive sub-disciplinary formation and to acquire greater visibility in geography.