rural communities

New Forms Of Rural Resurgence Through Commoning And Care

June 2, 2026 David Bollier. Create! Local Economy, New Economy, rural communities, The Commons

To outsiders, the Alps may conjure images of majestic mountain landscapes and carefree ski vacations. But to tens of thousands of people living in small Alpine towns, the challenges they face aren’t so different from those of many rural towns: How to meet basic needs and make the economy more resilient? How to deal with the worsening disruptions of climate change? How to assert greater regional control when distant, city-based politicians and investors push very different priorities? Paradoxically enough, remote rural locations are precisely where a lot of exciting ecosocial and economic innovations are arising.

Rural India Is Not Giving Up A Work Guarantee Without A Fight

April 25, 2026 Ritwika Mitra, Waging Nonviolence. Strategize! India, Jobs Guarantee, Mass Action, rural communities, Worker Rights

Across villages in India, protests erupted in December 2025 after the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, government scrapped one of the largest social safety nets in the world and replaced it with a watered-down version. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, or MGNREGA, guaranteed paid work to rural households. The new Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act not only drops Gandhi’s name but also steers away from the original rights-based framework that served as an economic lifeline for the roughly 30 percent of households in rural India who live in poverty.

Rural America Knows How Greenland Feels

February 15, 2026 John Peace, Portside. Educate! Democracy, Greenland, Health Care, rural communities

Recent headlines have been filled with renewed talk from the Trump administration about taking over Greenland, perhaps seizing it by force if Denmark is not willing to hand it over to the United States. Maps of the semiautonomous Danish territory light up on cable news. Analysts talk about supply chains, China, Greenland’s strategic location and its rare earth minerals and other critical resources needed for modern technology and defense. Greenland, we are told, matters. If you live in rural America, that probably sounds familiar. Because rural communities know exactly what it feels like to suddenly matter only when someone needs what is under your feet—or in your mountains.

Local Governments Tap Worker Cooperatives In Depopulated Areas

February 1, 2026 The Japan Times. Create! Cooperatives, Japan, rural communities, Worker Cooperatives

In depopulated areas across Japan, the withdrawal of supermarkets and other businesses has left essential services, vital to residents' daily lives, at risk. To address this problem, some local governments are turning to resident-led nonprofit organizations known as "workers' cooperatives" as new providers of local services. In these cooperatives, residents themselves plan, develop and operate the services their communities need, supported by local government subsidies for startup and operating costs. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is also working to create a framework to make it easier for such organizations to receive financial assistance and other forms of support.

Rural Minnesotans Stand Up To ICE

January 30, 2026 Betsy Froiland, In These Times. Resist! Community Defense, ICE, Immigrant Rights, Minnesota, rural communities, State Repression

President Donald Trump inaugurated his government’s massive ICE operation targeting people of Somali descent in Minnesota in early December by calling the entire group of people, among other racist and xenophobic slurs, “garbage.” In his tirade, Trump blamed the entire Somali-descended population in Minnesota, which includes about 80,000 residents across the state, for the actions of a few dozen people of Somali descent involved in a fraud scandal, much of which has already been adjudicated in court. He also echoed the erroneous claims of right-wing Internet commentators that stolen money was used to fund terrorism.

Rural America Deserves Dependable Broadband, Not Billionaire Handouts

October 30, 2025 Claude Cummings Jr., Scheer Post. Create! Broadband, FCC, Internet Access, rural communities

Nearly a century ago, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt led a campaign of bold investment to electrify rural America. Until recently, we were on track to do the same for broadband internet in this century. Before President Trump’s second term, our country was on the cusp of a breakthrough. Billions in federal funding was set to deliver reliable high-speed internet service to every corner of America. Instead, the Trump administration has turned its back on millions of Americans, prioritizing profits for billionaire backers over the needs of families, students, and small businesses. Earlier this year, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick derailed the $42.5 Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program (BEAD) when he upended the rules for it after all states had run extensive selection processes — and several had already submitted their final proposals.

The Republican Budget Bill Will Hurt Rural America

May 21, 2025 Michael Chameides, Barn Raiser. Resist! Health Care, Medicaid, Republicans, rural communities

On Friday, five Republicans in the House Budget Committee—including four members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus—joined all Democrats on the committee in blocking the bill from reaching the House floor. But some of the opposition want even deeper cuts to programs like Medicaid to offset exorbitant tax cuts for the rich. Now is the time to make sure every member of the House of Representatives knows how we feel. Here is the current expected timeline for activity on the legislation. Sunday, May 18 – Monday, May 19: The House Budget Committee reconvenes at 10 p.m. Sunday to markup and package the legislation into one bill.

Pesticides Make Living In Farm Towns As Risky As Smoking

August 31, 2024 Shannon Kelleher, In These Times. Educate! Cancer, Farming, Food and Agriculture, Health Care, Pesticides, rural communities

People who don’t farm, but live in U.S. agricultural communities where pesticides are used on farms, face an increased cancer risk as significant as if they were smokers, according to a new study. The study, published July 24 in the journal Frontiers in Cancer Control and Society, analyzed cancer incidence data from nearly every U.S. county and looked at how that data corresponded to federal data on agricultural pesticide use. Researchers reported that they found the higher the pesticide use, the higher the risk for every type of cancer the researchers looked at. “Agricultural pesticide use has a significant impact on all the cancer types evaluated in this study (all cancers, bladder cancer, colon cancer, leukemia, lung cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and pancreatic cancer."

How US Cities Outsource Their Carbon Emissions To Rural Areas

June 27, 2024 Claire Carlson, In These Times. Educate! Carbon emissions, Energy, Environment, Food and Agriculture, Report, rural communities

A new report shows that at least 36% of annual greenhouse gas emissions in the United States come from rural America, but they’re mostly used to produce energy and food for urban and suburban America. And while rural communities — particularly low-income and rural communities of color — are exposed to a disproportionate amount of greenhouse gas emissions, they’re not receiving the federal investments to decrease these emissions. “If we really want to meaningfully reduce emissions, [we need to invest] in efforts that are rural to reduce the emissions that are connected to that consumption,” said Maria Doerr, lead author of the report and program officer for the Rural Climate Partnership.

Organizing Rural And Small Towns For Affordable Housing And Racial Justice

June 17, 2024 Joel Bleifuss and Justin Perkins, Resilience. Organize! Farmers, Housing, Racial Justice, rural communities, Worker Rights and Jobs

In March, the Rural Democracy Initiative conducted a wide-ranging survey of rural and small town voters that found the number one issue for people was rising costs, particularly the cost of buying a home. When asked if the rising cost of housing preventing people from buying homes was a major or minor problem where they lived, 68% or respondents said it was a major problem, including 64% of Democrats, 71% of Independents and 68% of Republicans. That comes as no surprise to Jaime Izaguirre, a housing organizer in Dubuque, Iowa, for Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement. Not only is the cost of buying a house beyond the reach of many, finding an affordable, well-maintained apartment or house or mobile home to rent is increasingly difficult in rural and small town America.

Sustainable Food Systems: Feeding Ourselves Across Europe

May 6, 2024 Louise Kelleher, Resilience. Create! European Union (EU), Food and Agriculture, rural communities, Sustainability

Brussels is currently not the most hopeful place for those wishing to see EU food systems in a fair, ecological transition. But hope is on the ground. Not waiting for the impetus to come from above, many communities, food policy councils, solidarity farming initiatives, food cooperatives, as well as rural and urban municipalities have already established their own democratic, economic and social frameworks in order to create sustainable food systems. At Feeding Ourselves 2024, a roundtable on Bottom-Up Approaches to Sustainable Food Systems was a chance to connect partners of two ARC2020 projects, Rural Resilience in France and Rural Europe Takes Action – Germany* with kindred spirits in Ireland.

Half Of Rural Hospitals Are Operating At A Loss

April 16, 2024 Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez, In These Times. Educate! Health Care, Hospitals, Medicaid, Medicare, Montana, North Carolina, Report, rural communities

In a little more than two years as CEO of a small hospital in Wyoming, Dave Ryerse has witnessed firsthand the worsening financial problems eroding rural hospitals nationwide. In 2022, Ryerse’s South Lincoln Medical Center was forced to shutter its operating room because it didn’t have the staff to run it 24 hours a day. Soon after, the obstetrics unit closed. Ryerse said the publicly owned facility’s revenue from providing care has fallen short of operating expenses for at least the past eight years, driving tough decisions to cut services in hopes of keeping the facility open in Kemmerer, a town of about 2,400 in southwestern Wyoming.

The Story Of Rural Electric Cooperatives

March 10, 2024 Tom Llewellyn, Grassroots Economic Organizing. Create! Cooperatives, Electricity, rural communities, Utilities

At a moment when the world is awakening to the clear and present need to transition our energy system, a hopeful light gleams from the rural landscapes of America. The Rural Power Coalition (RPC), a diverse alliance of US advocacy groups serving rural communities from Alabama to Alaska, has taken another step forward with the release of “Power to the People: The Story of Rural Electric Cooperatives.” This animated short film that premiered today during the annual PowerXchange Conference in San Antonio, Texas, is not just a tale of the past; it’s a clarion call for a greener, more equitable future.

The US Postal Service Network Consolidation Plan

February 26, 2024 Sarah Anderson and Scott Klinger, Inequality.org. Educate! Louis DeJoy, Oregon, rural communities, US Postal Service, Veterans

A core feature of U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s 10-year plan, “Delivering for America,” is an initiative to restructure the nation’s postal network by consolidating processing and distribution operations in regional centers, mostly in urban areas. In 2023, two years into the 10-year plan, USPS reported that the agency had committed $7.6 billion out of a total $40 billion restructuring budget and plans were on track to open 60 new Regional Processing and Distribution Centers across the country in the coming years. Through this consolidation plan, many postal processing and distribution facilities in smaller communities will be converted to Local Processing Centers with reduced functions.

The Landless Workers’ Movement At 40

January 29, 2024 Liam Crisan, Counter Punch. Organize! Brazil, History, Inequality, Landless Movement, rural communities, Worker Rights and Jobs

This month marks the 40th anniversary of the largest social movement in the Americas: Brazil’s Landless Workers’ Movement, or MST (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra in Portuguese). What began as a group of displaced farmers has evolved over decades into a mass movement — with as many as two million members and a presence in 24 of Brazil’s 26 states. Today, the movement is the largest producer of organic food in Brazil and the largest producer of organic rice in all Latin America. While Brazil remains one of the world’s most unequal nations, the MST has made incredible progress during their 40 years of existence

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