Sosiologi Pedesaan

Among its contents discusses the Uses of Rural Sociology

Rural Sociology is a branch of sociology that studies social phenomena in rural areas. Starting from the word village, the meaning of village must first be understood because the object of rural sociology is the village.

According to Law no. 5 of 1979 concerning regional government. A village is an area occupied by a number of residents as a legal community unit, which has the lowest government organization, directly under the sub-district head and has the right to organize its own household within the framework of the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia.

The definition of a village is a legal unit where a community resides which has the power to carry out its own government (Sutardjo Kartohadikusumo).

According to C.S. Kansil, Village is an area occupied by a number of residents as a community unit including a legal community unit which has the lowest government organization directly under the sub-district head and has the right to organize its own household within the framework of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.

The following is the definition/meaning of rural sociology according to experts:

D. Samderson

Rural sociology is a social science that studies life in a rural environment.

TL. Smit and PE zopt

Rural sociology is systematic knowledge obtained through the application of scientific methods to the study of village society.

NL. Sims

Rural sociology is the study of social associations between people whose lives are more or less dependent on agriculture.

Uses of Rural Sociology:

Villages as a strategy in development

In rural areas, a strategy for development is needed, for example in building roads or building places of worship. For this reason, rural sociology is very useful in rural areas.

Villages are objects of knowledge. For example, villages that are often visited by foreign tourists, such as Ubud, are villages that are centers of artistic culture.

The first majors specializing in rural sociology appeared in the United States in the 1930s.

Then several academies emerged, such as Land Grant, which was formed within the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Agriculture, which aimed to research rural problems and train sociologists and rural extensionists for collaboration between government agencies and farmer organizations (Hightower, 1973).

The framework most often used to recognize various empirical findings is the idea of ​​a rural-urban continuum.

This is to explain various approaches to social and cultural patterns by referring to the place of society along a continuum that moves from the most urban to the most rural type of settlement.

One of the most disturbing aspects in the history of rural sociology is the failure of this science to develop a systematic analysis of agricultural production, at the level of enterprises and agrarian structures (Newby, 1980).

So the fate of rural sociology is currently caught in a number of controversies and expectations. Throughout its history, rural sociology has never been able to effectively assert its status as a separate scientific discipline with specific objects of inquiry and methods of explanation.

If the early tradition assumes that there are striking differences between rural locations that make these locations have differences in social and cultural terms compared to urban forms of social life.

However, finally more and more researchers are of the view that rural locations are just empirical or geographical entities where someone works.