Roundup: September 30, 2022
Recent Scholarship
Hollowed Out Heartland, USA: How Capital Sacrificed Communities and Paved the Way for Authoritarian Populism by Marc Edelman (Anthropology, CUNY) connects long-term and recent trends affecting rural economy, livelihoods, institutions, health, and more to analyze how scholars and the media have underestimated the human toll of crises and the interconnectedness of the multiple processes of social decomposition affecting rural zones.
In Exploring Climate Change Perspectives, An Analysis of Undergraduate Students’ Place-Based Attachment in Appalachia, USA, authors Martina Angela Caretta (Human Geography, Lund University), Brandon Anthony Rothrock (Geology & Geography, West Virginia), and Nicolas P. Zegre (Forestry & Natural Resources, West Virginia) complete a quantitative survey with undergraduate students across six state universities in the Appalachian region to explore the role of place-based attachment and emotions in framing the students’ climate change perspectives.
In Don’t Bet the Farm in Litigation Before Considering Mediation: The Case for Agriculture Mediation Program Implementation, author John Schmitz (Business Editor, Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution) discusses how agriculture mediation provides a unique opportunity for disputes centered around agriculture to be resolved in a timely manner.
In Decolonizing Agriculture in the United States: Centering the Knowledges of Women and People of Color to Support Relational Farming Practices authors Emma Layman (Student, Colorado) and Nicole Civita (Vice President for Strategic Initiatives, Sterling College) use a decolonial Feminist Political Ecology framework to highlight the ways in which the knowledges of Indigenous, Black, and women farmers have been and are being colonized; a tradition that makes alternative agriculture a predominantly white space.
Navigating the Space Between Policy and Practice: Toward a Typology of Collaborators in a Federal Land Management Agency by Nina Burkardt (Fort Collins Science Center) and Rebecca E. W. Thomas (Parks & Conservation, Slippery Rock University) discusses BLM Field Office Managers’ perceptions toward and applications of collaboration with public and private stakeholders. The authors suggest their findings can help agencies navigate the challenges associated with aligning agency directives with on-the-ground realities in different contexts when collaborators exhibit different traits.
In Rural Precarity: Relational Autonomy, Ecological Dependence and Political Immobilization in the Agro-Industrial Margin, author Inge-Merete Hougaard (Food & Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen) uses ethnographic research to explore agro-industrial Columbian villages to better understand what she calls “rural precarity” which is characterized by uncertain labor relations, fragile conditions of life, ecological dependence, and reconfigured rural relations.
News & Commentary
Lisa Pruitt (UC-Davis Law) has an article in Politico on Democratic candidate John Fetterman’s strategy of showing up in every county of Pennsylvania, defying what Pruitt sees as the Democratic Party’s trend to otherwise largely ignore rural voters. Other recent news related to Democratic political overatures in rural America include this Texas Tribute piece on gubenatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke’s efforts to reach out to deeply conservative corners of rural Texas and this Washington Post article connecting Senator Mary Pelota’s victory in Alaska to rural Alaskans’ support.
Aaron Bolton of NPR reports on how implementation of the new 988 national suicide hotline system has not fixed the lack of in-person mental health resources in many rural areas.
Rural areas also continue to be at the forefront of America’s nationwide teacher shortage. This article by Marianna McMurdock demonstrates how nine states in particular are experiencing the highest vacancy rates. More information on the nation’s general struggle concerning the catastrophic teacher shortage can be found in this Washington Post article. Some rural school districts have started focusing less on recruiting new teachers and more on getting their current teachers to stay, with these efforts described here.
Rural broadband infrastructure also remains an important topic as the FCC recently denied funding to Starlink, an LTD Broadband and SpaceX subsidiary, from the $9.2 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, citing Starlink’s alleged inability to provide the services they promised. Relatedly, this Bloomberg Law article discusses the digital divide in rural America in the specific context of accessing virtual court participation.
In this News-Graphic piece, guest columnist Jonathan Crider addresses benefits of independent rural pharmacies. Data from this Daily Yonder article, however, show that rural towns have lost 10% of their pharmacies, primarily independently owned pharmacies, in the past 20 years. More on the phenomenon of rural pharmacy closures can be found in this study from the RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis from the University of Iowa.
Other Opportunities
Report for America (RFA) is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities in return for mentorship and training. RFA is now accepting applications for newsrooms interested in hosting emerging and experienced journalists for up to 3 years, stating next summer. Rural newsrooms are especially encouraged to apply. The deadline to apply is October 3, 2022. To begin the application process or to learn more information, news organizations can visit this site.
The USDA is accepting applications for loans and grants under the ReConnect Program. The application deadline is November 2, 2022. To be eligible, the applicant must serve an area where high-speed internet service is not available at speeds of 100 Mbps (download) and 20 Mbps (upload). For additional information, see page 47690 of the August 4th Federal Register.