Rural changes, countryside-urban divide, and social mobilization in Uruguay’s countryside

During recent decades, Uruguay’s countryside has experienced significant developmental transformations. Some rural residents have manifested discontent and generated social mobilizations. Using interviews with countryside stakeholders and publicly available reports of a social movement created in 2018, this article examines the relationships between people’s framing of the countryside-urban divide and collective mobilization. Findings show existing conceptualizations about urban-rural differences were used to make sense of recent developmental changes and for the formation of collective mobilization. These findings are aligned with recent studies showing how developmental changes and differences between rural and urban settings can lead to sociopolitical manifestations in the countryside.