Staying with the Trouble of Rural Revitalisation: Material Agencies, More-than-Human Care, and Planetary Rural Futures

Wang, Chi-Mao, Maye, Damian ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4459-6630 and Woods, Michael (2025) Staying with the Trouble of Rural Revitalisation: Material Agencies, More-than-Human Care, and Planetary Rural Futures. Dialogues in Human Geography. (In Press)

Text 15410 Wang, Maye, Woods (2025) Staying with the trouble of rural revitalisation - material agencies, more-than-humancare, and planetary rural futures.pdf - Accepted Version Restricted to Repository staff only Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives 4.0. Download (308kB)

Abstract

This response engages Chen et al.’s (2025) intervention into our planetary rural geographies (PRG) framework, which rethinks rural–urban relations through material and more-than-human agencies. We welcome their emphasis on infrastructure’s role, particularly in China’s rural construction movement. Extending this, we highlight how materials—chemicals, soils, atmospheric elements—shape uneven planetary transformations. Drawing from metabolic politics and critical agrarian studies, we trace how earthly substances entangle rural assemblages in toxicity, dispossession, and ecological crisis. While rural revitalisation proliferates globally, we caution against anthropocentric models that reproduce harm. Instead, we call for ethics of care rooted in human–nonhuman reciprocity, land stewardship, and intergenerational solidarity—advancing the PRG agenda through attention to more-than-human entanglements and shared planetary responsibilities

Item Type:	Article
Article Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Planetary rural geographies; Rural revitalisation; More-than-human; Infrastructure; Materials
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GF Human geography. Human ecology. Anthropogeography
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > Countryside and Community Research Institute
Depositing User:	Nick Lewis
Date Deposited:	09 Oct 2025 09:24
Last Modified:	10 Oct 2025 14:00
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/15410

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