Some Afterthoughts on the Conference

Abstract

This conference on harmony and conflict in rural and ex-urban space has been a rich and rewarding educational experience for me, because for the past three decades or more I have been extremely parochial. I have invested virtually all of my energies in trying to understand the complexities of rural areas in the United States, and I have paid far too little attention to other parts of the world. As I have listened to colleagues from other countries I have been impressed by how similar we all are. We live in a world that has outgrown its traditional structures of settlement and of administration, and we are trying to figure out how to adapt these outmoded structures to the rapidly changing needs of contemporary society. We are trying to decide what can be rescued, what can be recycled and rehabilitated, and what is so obsolete that it must be jettisoned and replaced.