There has been much debate in rural studies concerning (uneven) processes of rural restructuring and its impact on redefining the role of rural areas and in underpinning different development trajectories across rural space. However, to date, there is currently a dearth of literature examining the impact of the current global financial crisis on rural localities, either in terms of how public policies have responded and/or adapted in relation to the potential increased vulnerability of rural localities in the face of extraordinary economic events and shocks. In this paper, we address this deficit by examining the impact of the global financial crisis and its implications for rural localities and households, drawing on Ireland as a case study. The paper aims to explore household everyday financial practices and coping strategies in relation to recession conditions in rural Ireland, in particular related to the bursting of the housing market bubble since 2007/08. To address these themes, the paper is structured as follows: first, we locate the discussion in the literature surrounding the global financial crisis and the role of the housing sector, before examining the implications for rural localities and rural housing markets. Second, the paper examines the housing boom and bust in Ireland and its relationship to the wider economy. Then, drawing on a customised household survey (n = 753), the paper examines the impact of the housing crash on life satisfaction, everyday financial practices and coping strategies among rural households.

Integrating immigrants in local food systems involves negotiations between complex meaning systems. An experience in working with immigrants and local food efforts in two Iowa communities shows that new social relationships are intersected by critical aspects such as trust (a component of social capital), political power (political capital), knowledge (human capital), and ethnic and cultural world views (cultural capital). Our analysis identified subtle and unrecognized hegemonic behavior and racialization (an unacknowledged culture of whiteness within the local/alternative food system) that inadvertently excludes Latinos and immigrants from the local food system. For these Latino farmers and gardeners, sharing agricultural produce with family and friends was more import than market-oriented strategies. Food is a major transmitter of cultural capital and builds social capital with extended family and with others in the community. By substituting food produced by the family for purchased food, family and friends receive a better diet and perhaps lower food costs. Growing and preparing food offers a way to give back to the community. Participation in farmer training fostered an inclusive, diverse and participatory community, but that did not extend to effective inclusion of Latino residents in the local food group nor to an effective inter-cultural incubator farm. It may be that a farm incubator with a focus on immigrant farmers would be more successful if it were not directly linked to an educational institution. The outside organizers inadvertently strengthened a culture of whiteness, as they had different goals for the food system than did the local participants.