Rurality, identity and morality in remote rural areas in northern Spain

•The rural area in decline has been object of geographical attention.•Rurality can be deconstructed in different ways in each place.•Materiality, identity and moral lives are three superimposed but interacting layers.•The moral lives are configured in each rural place.

The aim of this work is to conduct a micro comparative study of the identities and moral discourses in remote rural areas. It is divided into two main parts: the first analyses the different approaches to rurality, rural others and moral approaches from a sociocultural perspective; the second corresponds to a comparative analysis of the spatial identities and moral discourses in remote rural areas affected by depopulation processes.The empirical objective is to study, in two adjacent valleys, how rural micro identities arise and how the moral lives of individuals and social groups are configured. The qualitative methodology is based on an extensive stay in the area (casual and systematic observations and exchanges with local populations), and conducting in-depth semi-structured interviews.The main results suggest that different group identities appear from a similar material base and, from these identities, a range of moral lives based on daily life. Materiality, identity and moral lives are three superimposed but distinct interacting layers.

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