Sociologie Românească, Vol. III, no. 4/2005, pp. 5-35.
Factori de risc în evoluția mediului rural din România
Risk Factors in Romanian Rural Area Evolution
Ioan Mihăilescu
Abstract (Rezumat în limba engleză): The article represents a diagnosis of the current state of the Romanian village, focused mainly on the decrease of the educational levels of rural children, and the considerable access differences regarding modern educational means and information and communication technologies. The research addresses the causes of the regression in rural education: demographic decline, poverty, a return to subsistence farming, a decrease of educational motivation, the degradation of educational infrastructure, the crisis of qualified staff, and insufficient social policies. The author also analyzes consequences of the decline in rural education, such as: decreased opportunities for local development, low employment, the apparition of impoverished suburban belts, accumulation of a potential for social deviance, and an increase in social inequality. The study ends by proposing agricultural policies for rural localities.