APPROACHES TO DEFINING THE CONCEPT OF "RURAL TERRITORIAL COMMUNITY"

Abstract

The article examines the evolution of the concept of "rural territorial community", analyzes various approaches to the content of this term and considers the development of rural territorial communities. By a rural territorial community, we mean a certain association of residents, several villages or settlements, which take the initiative to jointly solve community problems, taking into account the peculiarities of the territory, infrastructure, economic development, the state of agriculture and cultural traditions. The article examines various approaches to the theoretical and methodological foundations of the concept of "rural territorial community": ecological, ethnographic, sociological, and economic. All of these approaches to the "rural territorial community" in the aggregate include: the provision of social services, the development of the rural community and its potential, taking into account ethnographic features, terrain, cultural development, establishing relationships with other communities and infrastructure, taking into account the environmental and geographical conditions. Different approaches of scientific research to the term "rural territorial community" are analyzed and compared, and the common and distinctive features of this concept are identified. The indicators of development of the rural territorial community, which ensure the viability and competitiveness of the village, are determined.