ABSTRACT
Rural communities deal with the challenges to their economies and lifestyles in different ways. This chapter explores some of the characteristics of communities which are successfully adapting to change. It also explores three models of community development: self-help, technical assistance, and conflict. "Communities on the Move" examines how inhabitants of rural communities can work together to promote economic and community development. Rural communities can offer incentives to attract outside investors, such as manufacturing plants, or they can develop ideas which encourage local people to invest in themselves. Self-help, technical assistance, and conflict leading to organized change are three models sociologists identify which can lead to positive community change. Sometimes more than one of these models work together to address different levels of need in a community. Community development, which has a slower initial growth rate than economic development, may be more stable in the long run.
