DEFINITIONS AND STRATEGIES OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT: A SEARCH FOR COHERENCE AND CONGRUITY.

The theme for this Third World Congress for Rural Sociology was selected by a working group, which met in Rome, Italy at FAO headquarters in the summer of 1969. This group included eminent scholars with diverse national and cultural backgrounds. It, therefore, must be considered a commentary on the appropriateness of the theme selected that a consensus was achieved in a relatively short period of time. This theme, Development Policies and Rural Life, was considered in keeping with research and action programs, which were being implemented by rural sociologists and other social scientists in almost all nations of the world. In light of the serious nature of the deliberation with regards to the theme and program of the Congress and in view of the objective which inspired the decisions, it occurred to the author that it would be appropriate to attempt a paper which was keynoted on ways to lessen the degree of incoherence and incongruity which characterizes the arena within which sociologists contemplate the field of rural development. According to the author, his tact has been to scrutinize as objectively as possible the two separate but inextricably related issues over which controversy is centered.