Towards a New Definition of Rurality

• Department of Political and Social Sciences

PhD thesis defence by Rebeca González Antuña

This dissertation examines the political attitudes and voting behaviour of rural populations in Spain, focusing on the growing support for far-right and mainstream right-wing parties. While challenging conventional views on the rural-urban divide, it introduces a more refined typology that distinguishes between 'Rural Agrarian' and 'Rural Industrial' contexts. By adopting this perspective, the three papers and the theoretical chapter aim to move beyond the simplistic rural-urban binary, exploring how local economic structures and cultural distinctions shape political preferences, how these preferences are transferred across generations, and how they create political and outgroup resentment.

The research employs both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to investigate these dynamics. Drawing on recent and historical electoral data, political manifestos, and two survey experiments, this thesis explores how far-right parties engage with rural voters and how rural concerns are represented descriptively and substantively. Spain offers a compelling case study, given its history of industrialisation, rural depopulation, and the resulting diversity of rural landscapes, which serve as a microcosm for broader trends across Western Europe.