Book excerpt: This book is an outgrowth of a conference that analyzed transformations in farming & farm communities and discussed what might be done to achieve a more socially responsible development. It contains papers that address the pace of change in work & rural society which has proceeded so rapidly that every new development appears to be a cross-roads in which something precious is in danger of being left behind, but something valuable may be gained by taking the right route. Topics of the papers include the importance of work, the family farm, community building, knowledge & skills in the farm community, coping with the farm crisis, land reform, short line railways, farm co-operatives, agricultural chemicals & agribusiness, sustainable alternatives for agriculture, game farming, co-operative intervention in the farm machinery sector, conservation tillage, globalization & agricultural policy, agrarian radicalism on the prairies, and farm income support systems. Includes index.