Exploring options to reinvigorate the Rural Economy and Society Study Group in the UK
In response to Michael Winter’s distinguished lecture (December 2025), the Centre for Rural Policy Research is looking to re-invigorate cross-institutional and multi-disciplinary intellectual exchange on ‘big picture’ thinking in rural and agrarian research in the UK.
In the 1980s and 1990s the Rural Economy and Society Study Group1 provided a collaborative space for such exchanges and shaped the field with a number of seminal outputs and edited volumes:
“In the rural sphere, interdisciplinary dialogue between the social sciences was facilitated by the activities of the Rural Economy and Society Study Group (RESSG). Established in 1979 as “a forum for all those studying the social formation of rural areas in advanced societies [and] to encourage theoretically informed investigation and analysis of rural issues” (Bradley and Lowe, 1984, p.1), the RESSG brought together isolated rural scholars and previously diffuse networks from across the social sciences. It soon grew to include more than 100, mainly younger, researchers and went on regularly to attract research council funding for organizing major conferences on rural themes.” (Lowe & Ward, 2007)2
Since then, both academic and rural contexts have changed markedly. So, what place might there be for a contemporary rural and agrarian study group for the UK? As a point of entry, the CRPR proposes to host two reading group sessions over the Summer of 2026 to revisit some of the classic texts, bring together interested colleagues and take inspiration on where to go next. We hope that wider discussions around these key books will provide an opportunity to affirm new and old connections and inspire us to think about:
- Whether and how we might want to re-establish a more formal research network
- What ‘big picture’ agrarian research might look like and have to say in 2026
- The place of theory in contemporary agrarian and rural research
- The opportunities and constraints we face
- What we might aspire to, including
- Providing opportunities for doctoral researchers and ECRs
- Seeking funding – either for the networking activities of the group, or research funding
- Writing edited volumes
- Tying the network into established national and international societies
- Influencing policy and wider impacts
We invite academics from across disciples, institutions and career stages who are engaged in UK agrarian and rural research to join us in this endeavour.
If you are interested in attending these initial sessions please complete the registration form and we will be in touch with further details.
1 The name of the new group remains open for discussion and agreement.
2 Lowe, P and Ward, N. (2007) British rural geography: a disciplinary enterprise in changing times, pp1-20 in Clout, H. Ed Contemporary Rural Geographies - Land, Property and Resources in Britain: Essays in honour of Richard Munton, Routledge