This chapter aims to present an overview of the field of rural criminology in South America by discussing two decades of publications on crime and safety in rural areas. The search for relevant literature was guided by a Southern criminology perspective and conducted using the Scopus database, resulting in the retrieval of 716 documents from various fields. From these, approximately 71 articles from criminology journals were pre-selected for detailed analysis, ultimately leading to the inclusion of 35 articles in this review. Contributions to the field of rural criminology have been irregular and fragmented in terms of topics, theory development, and engagement with policy and practices, with many of the most important understandings of rural crime, resistance and justice coming from an array of other disciplines, from political science, to economics, anthropology and human geography. New developments in the field promise a stronger period for rural criminology and highlight the importance of understanding the connections between the rural and urban in an increasingly conflicting globalised world.