Download or read book Survival of Rural America written by Richard E. Wood and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shows how small farming communities--the heart and soul of America--are both besieged and determined to survive, and reveals, through vivid storytelling, how the future of America is being played out on the high plains of Kansas.

Download or read book Endangered Spaces Enduring Places written by Janet M. Fitchen and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-04-02 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rural America as a place and a way of life is undergoing major transformation. The farm crisis and the decline of manufacturing dealt a double blow to the rural economy in the 1980s. Rural communities continue to lose farms, factories, and young people. Rural lands are increasingly being sought as places for vacation homes, state prisons, and waste dumps. Rural people are ambivalent about new residents and activities that are coming in and unsure of their own rural identity. Old assumptions about rural life and rural community are now open to question. Based on years of field observations and hundreds of interviews in fifteen rural counties in upstate New York, Fitchen's book explores these interconnected changes. It describes the financial stress in dairy farming and the efforts families made to hold onto their farms. It records the stunned disbelief and difficult adjustment of rural factory workers and small communities as local plants shut down. The author chronicles the struggles of communities plagued by toxic chemicals in their drinking water and of young families slipping farther into poverty. She reports on some communities that are campaigning to "win" a state prison and others that are protesting against a proposed radioactive waste dump. The book illustrates the persistence of rural ingenuity and determination but argues that these alone cannot solve the problems of rural America. A well-informed federal and state commitment is necessary. With policies and programs appropriate for rural situations, most communities could adapt creatively to the changes, integrate around a new rural identity, and survive into the twenty-first century as enduring social settings for their residents.

Download or read book Starting A New Life In Rural America written by Ragnar Benson and published by Paladin Press. This book was released on 2006-01-01 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Has the threat of urban terrorism, debacles like the disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans or just the general hassle of city life got you thinking about moving to the country? Good idea, but before you pull up stakes, here's a chance to learn about some of the realities of rural living that you might never have faced in your city or suburban home. Ragnar Benson grew up on a farm and has lived in the sticks for decades, and he has helped dozens of transplants settle into their new homes in the country. Now he has gathered his advice into this handy familiarization manual to introduce you to some of the issues you need to know about life in rural communities. Get an informed head-start on the adventure, independence and tranquility of a new life in rural America.

Download or read book Survival of Rural America written by Richard E. Wood and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2008-03-25 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the high plains of Kansas, the future of rural America is at stake. Small farming communities are the heart and soul of America, but it's no secret that they're under siege. Family farms are disappearing and manufacturing is outsourced. Schools close, jobs vanish, and local stores can't survive. Some communities resort to giving away land just to get people to move there. Richard Wood knows that rural communities need more than jobs or money to survive: they need to become valued again as desirable places to live. He takes a closer look at what has happened in several Kansas farming towns and shows that there is much more depth and diversity to rural life than meets the eye. Wood traveled the back roads to gather stories of people in some of the most vulnerable communities that are trying to stave off depopulation. These are not just accounts of people scrambling to survive in incipient ghost towns like Ada, but gritty success stories like Plainville, where an upscale design business ignited a revival, or Atwood, which shifted from industrial recruitment to home-grown entrepreneurship. Unlike Thomas Frank, whose What's the Matter with Kansas? used the state as a political yardstick, Wood sees it reflecting major economic and population trends throughout the world. Looking at projects as small as community medical clinics or plans for vast buffalo grassland parks, he also sees a robust future for small-town pioneers, folks who are betting their-and rural America's-future on such things as alternative energy (think "ethanol"), sustainable natural agriculture, tourism, and the enduring appeal of rural life to outsiders. With dozens of photos that bring rural America to life, Wood provides an inside look at what really makes this country tick-and at some of the developments that may turn the tide against what seemed an inevitable decline. Although the odds are stacked against rural recovery, the small victories that Wood shows us hold the promise that transformation and revival may yet stave off the final bitter harvest.

Download or read book Working Hard and Making Do written by Margaret K. Nelson and published by University of California Press. This book was released on 1999-05-24 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The economic recovery of the 1990s brought with it a surge of new jobs, but the prospects for most working Americans improved little. Family income rose only slightly and the period witnessed a significant degradation of the quality of work as well as in what people could expect from their waged employment. In this book, Margaret K. Nelson and Joan Smith take a look inside the households of working-class Americans to consider how they are coping with large-scale structural changes in the economy, specifically how the downgrading of jobs has affected survival strategies, gender dynamics, and political attitudes. Drawing on both randomly distributed telephone surveys and in-depth interviews, Nelson and Smith explore the differences in the survival strategies of two groups of working-class households in a rural county: those in which at least one family member has been able to hold on to good work (a year-round, full-time job that carries benefits) and those in which nobody has been able to secure or retain steady employment. They find that households with good jobs are able to effectively use all of their labor power—they rely on two workers; they engage in on-the-side businesses; and they barter with friends and neighbors. In contrast, those living in families without at least one good job find themselves considerably less capable of deploying a complex, multi-faceted survival strategy. The authors further demonstrate that this difference between the two sets of households is accompanied by differences in the gender division of labor within the household and the manner in which individuals make sense of, and respond to, their employment.

Download or read book American Salvage written by Bonnie Jo Campbell and published by Wayne State University Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New from award-winning Michigan writer Bonnie Jo Campbell, American Salvage is rich with local color and peopled with rural characters who love and hate extravagantly. They know how to fix cars and washing machines, how to shoot and clean game, and how to cook up methamphetamine, but they have not figured out how to prosper in the twenty-first century. Through the complex inner lives of working-class characters, Campbell illustrates the desperation of post-industrial America, where wildlife, jobs, and whole ways of life go extinct and the people have no choice but to live off what is left behind. The harsh Michigan winter is the backdrop for many of the tales, which are at turns sad, brutal, and oddly funny. One man prepares for the end of the world--scheduled for midnight December 31, 1999--in a pole barn with chickens and survival manuals. An excruciating burn causes a man to transcend his racist and sexist worldview. Another must decide what to do about his meth-addicted wife, who is shooting up on the other side of the bathroom door. A teenaged sharpshooter must devise a revenge that will make her feel whole again. Though her characters are vulnerable, confused, and sometimes angry, they are also resolute. Campbell follows them as they rebuild their lives, continue to hope and dream, and love in the face of loneliness. Fellow Michiganders, fans of short fiction, and general readers will enjoy this poignant and affecting collection of tales.

Download or read book Economic Restructuring and Family Well being in Rural America written by Kristin E. Smith and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A compilation of policy-relevant research by a multidisciplinary group of scholars on the state of families in rural America in the twenty-first century. Examines the impact of economic restructuring on rural Americans and provides policy recommendations for addressing the challenges they face"--Provided by publisher.

Download or read book 21st Century Survival of Rural America written by and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 107 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Survival Havens in America Small cities towns rural communities written by and published by . This book was released on 1981 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Rural America in an Age of Energy Transition written by David L. Ostendorf and published by . This book was released on 1980* with total page 29 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Rural Communities written by Cornelia Flora and published by Westview Press. This book was released on 2003-08-07 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rural America is a complex mixture of peoples and cultures struggling for survival. It ranges in character from workers in manufacturing plants in Georgia to Laotian immigrants who have relocated in Kansas; from farmers committed to sustainable agriculture to entrepreneurs planning a world-class ski resort in California's Sierra Nevadas; from laid-off miners in West Virginia to Native Americans in the Southwest searching for an economy consistent with their cultural values. These are all parts of rural America, seldom heard of in the mass media but deeply reflective of the legacies left by those who settled the land.This revised and updated edition of Rural Communities bridges the gap between social theory and community change by focusing on the problems that face rural America and offering students a framework for applying sociological concepts. The authors explore such issues as the diversity among rural communities; the interactions between communities and the economy; the governmental, economic, and social resources available in rural communities; and how communities organize for action. Although the authors explore community change within a rural context, their findings are applicable to urban neighborhoods as well. The notion of empowerment-that the understanding and analysis provided through the social sciences can result in community action-is unique to this book.This book can be used as a text for introductory courses in rural sociology, social problems, and community studies or by community groups to explore their own responses to a variety of problems. The book is also the companion text to a PBS college-level telecourse and television series entitled Rural Communities: Legacy and Change . The telecourse portrays the experiences of fifteen rural communities from across the United States.

Download or read book Rural Poverty in the United States written by Ann R. Tickamyer and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2017-08-22 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: America's rural areas have always held a disproportionate share of the nation's poorest populations. Rural Poverty in the United States examines why. What is it about the geography, demography, and history of rural communities that keeps them poor? In a comprehensive analysis that extends from the Civil War to the present, Rural Poverty in the United States looks at access to human and social capital; food security; healthcare and the environment; homelessness; gender roles and relations; racial inequalities; and immigration trends to isolate the underlying causes of persistent rural poverty. Contributors to this volume incorporate approaches from multiple disciplines, including sociology, economics, demography, race and gender studies, public health, education, criminal justice, social welfare, and other social science fields. They take a hard look at current and past programs to alleviate rural poverty and use their failures to suggest alternatives that could improve the well-being of rural Americans for years to come. These essays work hard to define rural poverty's specific metrics and markers, a critical step for building better policy and practice. Considering gender, race, and immigration, the book appreciates the overlooked structural and institutional dimensions of ongoing rural poverty and its larger social consequences.

Download or read book Infant Survival in Rural America written by and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 18 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Left Behind written by Robert Wuthnow and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2019-04-30 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How a fraying social fabric is fueling the outrage of rural Americans What is fueling rural America’s outrage toward the federal government? Why did rural Americans vote overwhelmingly for Donald Trump? And is there a more nuanced explanation for the growing rural-urban divide? Drawing on more than a decade of research and hundreds of interviews, Robert Wuthnow brings us into America’s small towns, farms, and rural communities to paint a rich portrait of the moral order—the interactions, loyalties, obligations, and identities—underpinning this critical segment of the nation. Wuthnow demonstrates that to truly understand rural Americans’ anger, their culture must be explored more fully, and he shows that rural America’s fury stems less from economic concerns than from the perception that Washington is distant from and yet threatening to the social fabric of small towns. Moving beyond simplistic depictions of America’s heartland, The Left Behind offers a clearer picture of how this important population will influence the nation’s political future.

Download or read book Born in the Country written by David B. Danbom and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2017-09-15 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ultimately, he asks whether a distinctive style of rural life exists any longer.

Download or read book Rebuilding Rural America written by Mark A. Dawber and published by . This book was released on 1937 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Routledge History of Rural America written by Pamela Riney-Kehrberg and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-14 with total page 611 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Routledge History of Rural America charts the course of rural life in the United States, raising questions about what makes a place rural and how rural places have shaped the history of the nation. Bringing together leading scholars to analyze a wide array of themes in rural history and culture, this text is a state-of-the-art resource for students, scholars, and educators at all levels. This Routledge History provides a regional context for understanding change in rural communities across America and examines a number of areas where the history of rural people has deviated from the American mainstream. Readers will come away with an enhanced understanding of the interplay between urban and rural areas, a knowledge of the regional differences within the rural United States, and an awareness of the importance of agriculture and rural life to American society. The book is divided into four main sections: regions of rural America, rural lives in context, change and development, and resources for scholars and teachers. Examining the essays on the regions of rural America, readers can discover what makes New England different from the South, and why the Midwest and Mountain West are quite different places. The chapters on rural lives provide an entrée into the social and cultural history of rural peoples – women, children and men – as well as a description of some of the forces shaping rural communities, such as immigration, race and religious difference. Chapters on change and development examine the forces molding the countryside, such as rural-urban tensions, technological change and increasing globalization. The final section will help scholars and educators integrate rural history into their research, writing, and classrooms. By breaking the field of rural history into so many pieces, this volume adds depth and complexity to the history of the United States, shedding light on an understudied aspect of the American mythology and beliefs about the American dream.