Rural Poverty and Social Exclusion in the United States and the United Kingdom

This chapter provides an historical-comparative discussion of rural poverty and poverty research in the United States and in the United Kingdom. In particular we look at the ways in which poverty—its causes, consequences and the implications for addressing poverty through policy and practice—are understood across both national contexts. In doing this, we examine the concept of social exclusion, a discursive and theoretical frame that has increasingly been used in both disciplinary and policy debates in the UK, and indeed in Europe more broadly, but remains little recognised in the US.