Communities in rural America are a complex mixture of peoples and cultures struggling for survival by implementing innovative approaches to their problems. This core text presents a practical framework for students to understand the internal and external forces shaping rural communities today. Rural Communities focuses on various capitals in rural areas--natural, cultural, human, social, political, financial, and built. Issues covered include racial and cultural diversity; globalization and rural communities; the central role of communities in organizing a sustainable future; and building community in the context of ubiquitous change. The third edition is thoroughly updated to include recent conceptual and topical developments. Revisions include a new chapter on governance, as well as new material on increasing tensions over international immigration, the differential impact of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on rural communities, and the rural consequences of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the South.