ABSTRACT
In the preceding eleven chapters, we have argued that the social impacts resulting from rural resource development are experienced differently by diverse groups of people. Social impact assessment conducted on a purely regional or even a community level thus stands to miss many of the impacts experienced by significant portions of the population. Chapters by Chertok, Gale, Hall, and others have indicated that due to the dynamics of the economic system, the state, and politics, population groups are affected differently. This, our authors agree, is the result of a class stratification system where persons from minority racial or ethnic groups, as well as women, the aged, and the poor, are treated differentially. Within the stratification system, population groupings holding attitudes, norms, and values at variance with the majority beliefs are further subjected to unequal impacts from development projects. These groups have been identified as subcultures in our volume.
