Endangered spaces, enduring places : change, identity, and survival in rural America
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Endangered spaces, enduring places : change, identity, and survival in rural America
Westview Press, 1991
- : pbk
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 289-302) and index
Description and Table of Contents
- Volume
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ISBN 9780813311142
Description
The often forgotten rural poor are given voice in this study of five up-state New York counties. Based on years of research and rural activism and on extensive interviews, it sets out to capture the turmoil of life in rural America today - a picture far removed from the glowing stereotypes often glamorized in film and fiction. Janet Fitchen, who also wrote "Poverty in Rural America", finds a rural America under siege. Despite enormous problems - including the farm crisis, broken families, the encroachment of the urban poor and unfamiliar minorities seeking affordable housing, as well as rural land increasingly being targeted as prime territory in which to dump the ills of society, such as hazardous wastes - the author shows how rural people are finding ways to cope, to repair their communities and to incorporate these new elements into their lives. Their story is significant not only in telling us about the capacity of individuals and communities to participate in their own transformation, but as a testimony of hope that the spirit of independence is alive and well in rural America.
Table of Contents
- Rural America in a time of change
- the farm crisis and its challenge to rural community life
- shifting non-farm economies
- changing rural populations
- worsening rural poverty
- providing community services in changing circumstances
- changes and challenges in local government
- new uses for rural lands - dumping ground for society
- rural identity and survival. (Part contents)
- Volume
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: pbk ISBN 9780813311159
Description
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 in the 1980s to rural communities, which 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 and unsure of their own rural identity. Old assumptions about rural life are now open to question. Based on years of field observations and hundreds of interviews in fifteen rural counties in upstate New York, Fitchens book explores these changes. It describes the financial stress on dairy farmers and their efforts to hold onto their farms. It records the disbelief and difficult adjustment of rural factory workers and 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 further into poverty. She reports on communities campaigning to win a state prison and others protesting a proposed radioactive waste dump.
The book illustrates the persistence of rural ingenuity and determination but argues that a well-informed federal and state commitment is also necessary. With appropriate policies and programs, most rural 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.
Table of Contents
* Rural America in a Time of Change * The Farm Crisis and Its Challenge to Rural Community Life * Shifting Nonfarm Economies * Changing Rural Populations * Worsening Rural Poverty * Providing Community Services in Changing Circumstances * Changes and Challenges in Local Government * New Uses for Rural Lands: Dumping Ground for Society * Rural Identity and Survival
by "Nielsen BookData"
