Using an innovative theoretical approach based on 'networks of conventions', the book investigates the 'regionalisation' of the English countryside through case studies of the 'preserved', the 'contested' and the 'paternalistic' countryside.

Drawing upon the evidence from the whole programme, "The Differentiated Countryside" synthesizes the viewpoints of the proceding volumes, seeking to draw lessons from the whole discipline of social science. In evaluating the conclusions and approaches of its sister volumes - it considers the role of strategic forces in shaping local change and proposes appropriate policy responses to those forces.

Introduction 1. A Differentiated Countryside? 2. Regionalising the Rural 3. Theorising Differentiation 4. The 'Preserved' Countryside 5. The 'Contested' Countryside 6. The 'Paternalistic' Countryside 7. The Differentiated Polity 8. The Dynamics of Differentiation