Roundup: May 20, 2021
It has been a while friends, so there is a lot to roundup. Please continue send us any updates or items you would like posted.
Recent Publications
Andrea Rissing, Shoshana Inwood (both of Ohio State), and Emily Stengel (independent) have published The Invisible Labor and Multidimensional Impacts of Negotiating Childcare on Farms in Agriculture and Human Values. This article explores the close connection between some farm households and farm businesses and argues that more direct focus on the need for childcare on farms “represents a potentially powerful inroad toward identifying effective support interventions” during a vulnerable period in most farm and family trajectories.
Lisa Pruitt (UC Davis Law) and Andrew Davies (Southern Methodist Law) have posted Investigating Access to Justice, the Rural Lawyer Shortage, and Implications for Civil and Criminal Legal Systems. This chapter in Research Methods for Rural Criminologists highlights the geography of rural lawyer shortages and how they impact rural criminal justice, including especially indigent defense.
Michaela Hoffelmeyer (Penn State Ag Econ) has published “Out” on the Farm: Queer Farmers Maneuvering Heterosexism & Visibility in Rural Sociology.
Esme Murdock (San Diego American Indian Studies) published this powerful essay in Atmos: On Telling the Truth Unflinchingly: Climate Catastrophe and Colonialism.
Allen T. Stanton (Martin Methodist College) has published a new book, Reclaiming Rural: Building Thriving Rural Congregations, which “promotes the church as a leader in economic and community development.”
Finally, Running Out: In Search of Water on the High Plains is now available by Lucas Bessire (Oklahoma Anthropology). The publisher describes this as an “intimate recokoning with aquifer depetion in America’s heartland,” and a fantastic Ideas Podcast discussing the book is available here. High on my summer reading list.
News & Commentary
The Rural Democracy Initiative, along with more than 20 other partner organizations, released its incredibly detailed 2021 Rural Policy Action Report.
Charlie Mitchell and Austin Frerick have this incredibly detailed story of farm consolidation in Iowa in Vox: The Hog Barons: How Iowa’s Largest Hog Producer Courted Power, Turned Farming into a Numbers Game, and Transformed the American Heartland. Must read.
Anya Slepyan published Rural Queer History: Hidden in Plain Sight in Daily Yonder. Recognizing a false narrative about the absence of queer populations from rural places, this piece documents “a fuller and truer picture.”
More to come!