This book offers a unique perspective on rural development, by discussing the most influential perspectives and rendering their risks and benefits visible. The authors do not present a silver bullet. Rather, they give students, researchers, community leaders, politicians, concerned citizens and development organizations the conceptual tools to understand how things are organized now, which development path has already been taken, and how things could possibly move in a different direction. Van Assche and Hornidge pay special attention to the different roles of knowledge in rural development, both expert knowledge in various guises and local knowledge. Crafting development strategies requires understanding how new knowledge can fit in and work out in governance. Drawing on experiences in five continents, the authors develop a theoretical framework which elucidates how modes of governance and rural development are inextricably tied. A community is much better placed to choose direction, when it understands these ties.