This article, originally a Keynote Address at the XXVIII European Society for Rural Sociology Congress (Trondheim, Norway, 25–28 June 2019), reflects on my positionality as a citizen‐academic at a time when democracies around the world are threatened by runaway incivility, anxiety and hate. Such reflexivity ought to be encouraged in the field and ultimately leveraged as we practice engaged scholarship that also affords empathy and justice. Much of my recent scholarship represents, in part, a response to personal frustrations and anxieties in the face of tensions around authoritarian populism and rural‐urban asymmetries. The research reviewed touches on such subjects as political ontologies, the politics surrounding public and private concerns, the future as a Durkheimian social fact, rural‐urban linkages and social justice. The data presented attempts, collectively, to make the point the while the twenty‐first century is said to belong to cities, the field of rural sociology has never been more salient. The article speaks of how and why a recommitment to our sociological roots, which involves further embracing our sociological imaginations, may help others better grasp the field’s value, while helping the academy better grapple with issues of social justice.

中文翻译：

---

农村社会学的复兴：不确定时期的参与，成文和情感

这篇文章最初是在第二十八届欧洲农村社会社会学大会（挪威特隆赫姆，2019年6月25日至28日）上的主题演讲，反映了我在世界民主制受到失控的动荡威胁之际作为公民学术的地位，焦虑和仇恨。这种反身性应该在该领域得到鼓励，并在我们实践参与式奖学金时也应加以利用，这种奖学金也能给予同理心和正义感。我最近的大部分奖学金在一定程度上反映了面对专制民粹主义和城乡不对称现象引起的紧张局势时对个人沮丧和焦虑的反应。该研究回顾了以下方面的内容：政治本体论，围绕公共和私人关注的政治，作为涂尔干（Durkheimian）社会事实的未来，城乡联系和社会正义。这些数据共同地试图阐明这一点，尽管据说二十一世纪属于城市，但农村社会学领域从未如此突出。这篇文章谈到了对我们社会学根源的重新承诺的方式和原因，其中包括进一步拥抱我们的社会学想像力，可以帮助其他人更好地把握该领域的价值，同时帮助学院更好地应对社会正义问题。