New rural geographies in Europe - looking back and forward

This introductory chapter frames the contributions in this volume by sketching major institutional developments in the fields of rural sociology, rural geography and rural studies in (Western) Europe in the course of the 20th century. We reflect on what it means to be ‘doing’ rural geography in a European context today: We explore the extent to which contemporary rural research focuses on particularly European conditions for rural development by analysing contributions in four major European scientific journals. We argue that the potential of cross-national and comparative research is by no means exhausted, and thus consider the occasion of a new pan-European Rural Geographies conference series as a potential trigger of future comparative rural research and collaborations.