Historically and now, the rural is frequently relegated to the periphery of broader public and policy debates, and within the discipline of sociology. At this moment in time, where the world needs radical re-imagining for the future, rural perspectives and realities must be visible and addressed. This article introduces a special issue of the Journal of Sociology which seeks to articulate how rural sociology is a crucial field of study for (re)imaging rural futures. In this article, we provide an overview of the research included in the collection, which draws much needed attention to some of the specific contemporary challenges encountered in rural places and some of the possibilities for transforming rural futures, and rural sociology. We argue that rural places are a key site where transformative change can, and does occur, and that rural sociologists are ideally positioned to work with and for rural communities in effecting desired change.

从历史和现在来看，农村经常被置于更广泛的公共和政策辩论的边缘，并且处于社会学学科之内。在这个世界需要彻底重新想象未来的时刻，农村的观点和现实必须是可见的和解决的。本文介绍了Journal of Sociology的一期特刊它旨在阐明农村社会学如何成为（重新）想象农村未来的重要研究领域。在本文中，我们概述了该集合中包含的研究，这些研究引起了人们对农村地区遇到的一些特定的当代挑战以及改变农村未来和农村社会学的一些可能性的关注。我们认为，农村地区是变革性变革可以而且确实发生的关键场所，农村社会学家处于理想的位置，可以与农村社区合作并为农村社区实现预期的变革。