Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses the opportunities and challenges associated with globalising rural places, and to identify possibilities for policy and practical intervention by rural actors. It produces the new critical work on the interdependence between globalisation and rural spaces from various academic perspectives. The book argues that globalisation is reproduced through rural localities, engaging local and non-local actors. It also argues that rural localities cannot be simplistically labelled as winners or losers from globalisation. The chapter analyses whether non-farm entrepreneurship in rural Vietnam is mainly a sign of deprivation or of exploited opportunities. It determines the influence of large enterprises on the local labour market in non-metropolitan rural areas in Poland. The chapter discusses the basic features of the learning region concept and presents several examples of networks related to regional learning or learning in the region in Eastern Saxony.