Icelandic rural areas and regional sociology

Abstract

The pioneers of sociology were preoccupied with comparing diverse, rapidly changing modern societies to earlier, traditional agricultural societies. Rural sociology developed in the 20th century as a distinct subfield of sociology concerned with the nature and development of farms, villages and towns and their relations with large and small cities. Rural sociology thus intersects with various other fields of sociological inquiry and undergirds rural studies in general. Rural studies started in Iceland in the second half of the 20th century but rural sociology only became deeply embedded in the Icelandic academic community at the turn of the century. Several Icelandic sociologists as well as economists, geographers, anthropologists, political scientists and other social scientists have contributed to the rural sociology of Iceland. This article reviews the state of Icelandic rural sociological knowledge on migration, economic and occupational development, education, commerce and services, social regions and other residential amenities. Several topics for further rural studies are identified and the future of Icelandic rural sociology is assessed.