This fascinating book examines rural retirement migration from the older in-migrants’ perspective and from the vantage point of the destination communities to which they move. This integrated approach permits the authors to view older in-migrants as embedded in environments that facilitate and/or constrain their opportunities for productive living during older age. It also permits the examination of positive and negative effects of older in-migration for destination communities.

The book is the first ethnographic study of international retirement migration and offers a sometimes surprising picture of the potentials, seductions and limitations of the lifestyles. People envision retirement as freedom from responsibilities through shedding the restrictive shackles of their former selves in a time of life dedicated to fun, friendship, healthy activity and individual fulfillment. However, as Oliver documents, a number of contradictions underpin the pursuits of such a lifestyle. She shows how retirees must balance time-use to achieve both freedoms and busy social schedules -- their activities, their relationships, and their cultural identities – to balance both the security of nationality with the discovery of the new. Retirement Migrationgives a critical insight into the new ways aging identities are experienced by a growing number of older people in Western societies today.

An analysis of the phenomenon of international retirement migration, this traces the story of the migrants from their old to their new homes, and examines the conceptual and policy contexts of this relatively new form of transnational mobility.

First published in 1984, Hugh Clout’s work contributes to one of the most debated and important topics of the time, the European Economic Community. Starting from the Mid-20th century, Clout explains the profound socio-economic and environmental changes that effected the countryside of Western Europe. This work shows how the EEC’s wide-ranging Common Agricultural Policy added a measure of uniformity to farm policies. Clout reveals that the transformation however was not an entirely healthy one. The broad process of agricultural modernisation reinforced the numerical decline of farm workers throughout Western Europe, weakened many rural communities, and served to accentuate depopulation. Clout’s work ultimately argues forcibly that to produce such a programme for managing rural Europe would be a major challenge for the EEC in the future.

Rural societies around the world are changing in fundamental ways, both at their own initiative and in response to external forces. The Routledge International Handbook of Rural Studies examines the organisation and transformation of rural society in more developed regions of the world, taking an interdisciplinary and problem-focused approach. Written by leading social scientists from many countries, it addresses emerging issues and challenges in innovative and provocative ways to inform future policy. This volume is organised around eight emerging social, economic and environmental challenges: Demographic change. Economic transformations. Food systems and land. Environment and resources. Changing configurations of gender and rural society. Social and economic equality. Social dynamics and institutional capacity. Power and governance. Cross-cutting these challenges are the growing interdependence of rural and urban; the rise in inequality within and between places; the impact of fiscal crisis on rural societies; neoliberalism, power and agency; and rural areas as potential sites of resistance. The Routledge International Handbook of Rural Studies is required reading for anyone concerned with the future of rural areas.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of a growing phenomenon in migration: retired Americans moving to Latin America. Through in-depth profiles of two of the most popular destinations – Cuenca, Ecuador and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, the book provides a unique commentary on the social forces shaping this new diaspora and its impact on the settings to which retirees relocate. Sections of the book address the lives and activities of retirees themselves; their impact on real estate, business development, and gentrification within historic cities; the availability and access to medical and long-term care services; and the role of governmental policies in attracting immigrant retirees and shaping their societal impact. Concluding sections provide guidance for potential retirees and for cities and countries interested in attracting these new immigrants while minimizing adverse impact on local culture and quality of life. Carefully researched and extensively illustrated with photographs, maps, figures, and tables, the book serves as an important new resource for scientists and policy makers, as well as for baby boomers who have retired abroad or are considering doing so.

New twenty-first century economic, social and environmental changes have challenged and reshaped rural Australia. They range from ageing populations, youth out-migration, immigration policies (that seek to place skilled migrants in rural Australia), tree changers, agricultural restructuring and new relationships with indigenous populations. Challenges also exist around the 'patchwork economy' and the wealth that the mining boom offers some areas, while threatening regional economic decline in others. Rural Australia is increasingly not simply a place of production of agriculture and minerals but an idea that individuals seek and are encouraged to consume. The socio-economic implications of drought, water rights and changing farming practices, have prefaced new social, cultural and economic reforms. This book provides a contemporary perspective on rapidly evolving population, economic and environmental changes in 'rural and regional Australia', itself a significant concept. Bringing together a range of empirical studies, the book builds on established rural studies themes such as population change, economic restructuring and globalisation in agriculture but links such changes to environmental change, culture, class, gender, and ethnic diversity. Presenting original and in-depth interventions on these issues and their intersections, this book assembles the best of contemporary research on rural Australia.