Suchergebnisse

This analysis reassesses the importance of the combined legacies of race, class, and culture by using the concentration of African Americans in a county as a general measure of this phenomenon for thirteen Southern states. Explanatory variables associated with labor force structure, social well-being and region provide evidence that those areas of the South with the highest concentrations of African Americans continue to be the most disadvantaged. These results suggest little change for metropolitan counties with increased concentrations of African Americans. The analyses point toward the need for a focused assessment of the efficacy of existing public and private programs to provide a foundation for overcoming the negative dimensions of the regional legacy.

Abstract Theoretical and methodological approaches to rural social change are explored, especially those that give visibility to the range of heterogeneous experiences and perspectives that often are overlooked or ignored. Theoretical developments in postmodern, narrative, and feminist theory are described as are the methodological approaches they imply. Examples of research on rural social change that attempt to integrate theory and methods in ways that respect the complicated, processual nature of social life are discussed. They provide concrete illustrations of how alternative approaches can be fruitfully applied to some of the issues and problems rural sociologists typically study.

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Part I: Who Lives in Rural America Today? -- New Directions in Population Change and Diversity -- 1 Unpredictable Directions of Rural Population Growth and Migration -- 2 African Americans in Rural America -- 3 American Indians -- 4 Latinos in Rural America -- Reshuffling and Remaking Rural Families -- 5 What Do Rural Families Look Like Today? -- 6 Older Rural Families -- 7 Rural Children and Youth at Risk -- 8 Rural Women -- 9 Rural Poverty -- Part II: A Transformed Rural Economy -- 10 How People Make a Living in Rural America -- 11 Who Benefits from Economic Restructuring? -- 12 Commuting -- 13 Continuities and Disjunctures in the Transformation of the U.S. Agro-Food System -- 14 Tourism and Natural Amenity Development -- Part III: The Rural Community: Is It Local? Is It a Community? -- Perspectives on Community -- 15 Community Agency and Local Development -- 16 Social Capital -- 17 Civil Society, Civic Communities, and Rural Development -- The Social Institutions That Maintain and Reproduce Community -- 18 The Global/Local Interface -- 19 Competition, Cooperation, and Local Governance -- 20 Religion -- 21 Promoting Educational Achievement -- 22 Rural Health Policy -- Part IV: People and the Environment: Tough Tradeoffs in an Era with Vanishing Buffers -- 23 Transforming Rural America -- 24 Community and Resource Extraction in Rural America -- 25 Fur, Fins, and Feathers -- Part V: Changing National and International Policies: New Uncertainties and New Challenges -- 26 What Role Can Community Play in Local Economic Development? -- 27 Devolution -- 28 Welfare Reform in Rural Areas -- 29 The Impact of Global Economic Practices on American Farming -- 30 Catalytic Community Development -- Conclusion -- References -- Contributors -- Index