本文指出,在因應全球經濟分工的空間結構調整和國際經貿組織與協定擴充的今天,有關永續鄉村發展的討論,必須以重新檢視「鄉村性」這個概念的定義與組成為主,好建構鄉村地區識別作為發展基礎。關於「鄉村性」的定義,我們認為應該由鄉村地區的社會結構和社會行動兩方面來看;前者指向鄉村地區的生計方式與土地使用或財產結構的關係,後者則是對應到鄉村居民對於他們的生活聚落之定位以及有關地區定位的集體行動與集體意識。這兩者都屬於鄉村地區居民對於地區發展結局的宣告與行動所形成,亦即是地方識別的問題;而在今天唯有重新檢討與建構鄉村地方識別,才有可能在新國際經濟分工的情況下達成永續發展。
In this article, we render that, in order to cope with the new global economic-spatial structural transformation and the expansion of international economic and trade organizations and treaties, a discursive reexamination of the concept of ”rurality” is necessary for sustainable rural development. In doing so, two components that constitute the concept of ”rurality” must be thoroughly examined. On the one hand, rural social structure referring to the interrelationships between local ways of living in terms of land-use types and local property structure is the key component; on the other, rural social action in terms of the relationships between local collective consciousness and local collective action must be taken into consideration. The synthesis of discussions about rural social structure and rural social action points toward many rural identity issues. Hence, we posit that it is only by reconstructing local identity can we achieve the basic knowledge for laying out sustainable rural development goals.