Abstract

This chapter attempts to add an international perspective on understanding rurality, and the challenges of living in an African countryside compared to that of the Western countryside. The discussion acknowledges that there are large differences between the experiences of rural life in Africa compared to that of the more developed world, making the two rurals almost incomparable. The chapter should not be seen as a representation of Africa as a whole, but focuses on Sub-Saharan Africa, with specific reference to Zambia as a case study. In doing so, it explores the rural idyllic representations of the West with those of Africa and argues that, much of the Zambian countryside, commands very negative representations, making the rural idyll more of a western construct. Drawing upon a historical and political economy perspective, the chapter seeks to reveal the lack of structured coherence in Zambian rural areas and highlights the factors that have (re) shaped perceptions and development of the rural over time and the implications that this can have for the rural together with its inhabitants.