ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the emergence and consolidation of the British nation state and the subsequent re-positioning of rural areas in the context of the nation. It will argue that the formation of the British nation state has entailed specifying the role that rural areas should play in national life. In general the dominant requirement has been increasing food production and the commercialisation of the agricultural sector which reached its apotheosis in the immediate post-war period with the development of a comprehensive agricultural policy. More recently, however, the rationale underpinning agricultural policy has been reassessed and this may signal a shift to a new specification for rural areas, one which draws upon other national considerations. Accordingly, the chapter goes on to trace the emergence of an alternative national discourse on rurality, one which identifies the essence of nationhood with the 'countryside' and which seeks to preserve the countryside in order to preserve the 'well-spring' of national identity. This concern has been incorporated into the planning system and it is now being bolstered by middle-class groups who have moved into rural areas in recent years and who seek to preserve a 'traditional' rural environment. Moreover, this emerging form of rurality is much more concerned with local diversity than the previously dominant agricultural regime and may lead to a new mix of the local and national in rural affairs. The chapter concludes with some thoughts on future patterns of rural development.
