A Future for Regional Australia

This book interprets the predicament faced by regional Australians from their own perspective and proposes a means by which they can act together to find a secure future under globalisation. It argues that neoliberalism in combination with its 'real world' effects in economic policy are driving regional Australia further into social, environmental and economic decay. Gray and Lawrence advocate a new kind of regionalism with broad objectives for people to pursue. This takes discussion about rural and regional policies out of the contexts of trade and industry policies and into the realm of the social and political. Ideas developed throughout the book are drawn from rural sociology, community studies, rural geography, political economy and regional studies. The book will be of great interest to all concerned about the future of regional Australia, and will make a lively and relevant text for students studying the social sciences in the countryside or in the major cities.