Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Journal of Applied Sciences, cilt.9, sa.7, ss.1215-1226, 2009 (Scopus)
This study investigates the effects of globalization on rural communities and was conducted in two villages, one upland and the other lowland, located in Turkey's Western Mediterranean region. These are namely the villages of Serpil and Akbelenli, both located in Eǧirdir District of Isparta Province. The Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) technique was utilized throughout the study and included such tools as interviews, observations and secondary data analysis. The results emerging from the study indicate that globalization has had varying effects on upland and lowland villages. In the village of Serpil, a low basin, (1) resources are sufficient for the rural community to live on; (2) there is no issue of migration either to or from the village due to rural poverty; (3) modern communication tools are widely used in the village; (4) villagers are in close contact with the outside world through the use of the internet; (5) villagers take fairly good advantage of the beneficial consequences of globalization. On the other hand, in the village of Akbelenli, a high basin, (1) resources are not adequate to provide subsistence to the uplands villagers; (2) the younger generation is relocating to cities and rural areas become gradually abandoned; (3) modern mass media and computer tools are not utilized due to rural poverty; (4) opportunities that globalization provides for gathering information are not taken advantage of; (5) at its present state, the rural community is unable to attain a basic grip on the information age. The primary reason why these two villages are different from each other has to do with the fact that their geographic locations and the amount of resources available to the villagers are so distinct. Therefore, in Turkey, actions aimed at rural development should be taken in consideration of this distinction between upland and lowland villages. © 2009 Asian Network for Scientific Information.