Roundup: October 18, 2024
A regular feature of our growing online journal, The Rural Review, these roundup posts collect notable recent research, analysis, and related rural news and commentary. Feel free to send suggestions for future collections to us here. And, more details on other opportunities to contribute to The Rural Review can be found here.
Recent Publications
In The Salvage Frontier: Place, Nature, and Neoliberalism in a Small Northern Town published in Antipode, Bruce Erickson (Environment and Geography, University of Manitoba, Canada) explores the risks Northern Canada’s transition to a more free-market economy poses to small towns. In Erickson’s view, towns that rely on industries such as shipping and tourism have lost local control of place image and experience, and while profits accrue elsewhere, local residents remain vulnerable to the risks of the venture in the location itself.
Society & Natural Resources published Understanding the Hidden Costs and Benefits of Living With Grizzly Bears in Montana, a profile of residents’ perceptions of the consequences, including those both hidden and nonmaterial, of living in close proximity with wildlife. Sara Lamar, Alexander L. Metcalf, Sarah A. Ebel, Darci M. Graves, Allegra Sundstrom (all Sociology, Social Work, and Criminology, Idaho State University), and Morey Burnham (Wildlife Biology Program and Human Dimensions Lab, University of Montana) analyze interviews to establish a broader understanding of human-wildlife coexistence.
Joy Howard (Education and Allied Professions, Western Carolina University) and Timberly Baker (Educational Leadership, Arkansas State University) published Black Life is Not Ungeographic! Applying a Black Geographic Lens to Rural Education Research in the Black Belt in the Journal of Research in Rural Education. The article uses the theoretical lens of Black Geography to improve research questions, designs, and the contributions drawn from research findings, with the aim of centering Black livingness.
News & Commentary
An article in The New York Times noted the revival of old school technology and town meetings in mountain towns of North Carolina as a means of coping with Hurricane Helene’s widespread disruption of modern technology. The town meetings not only help residents access food, water, and fuel, but also provide a sense of community and support.
The Poynter Institute awarded the Malheur Enterprise, a small Oregon paper, a prize for its tenacious reporting of Malheur County’s mishandling of public records and fight for transparency regarding a rail center project that promised to bring the community economic opportunity but has yet to materialize, despite receiving considerable state funding.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published an article covering the uncertain future of thousands of dams across the country, with significant consequences for local rural communities. Maple Dale dam, in southwestern Wisconsin, is once such dam—built in the mid-20th century for the purposes of flood control, it is now at risk of failing but is too expensive to replace.
The USDA released a statement celebrating National Cooperative Month. This year’s theme, “The Future is Cooperative,” highlights the increasingly important role co-ops play in enhancing the quality of life in rural places by fostering economic growth, creating jobs, and building resilient communities.
Events & Recordings
Earlier this month, Brookings Metro and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation brought together national, state, and local leaders from rural America to discuss community-centered approaches to inclusive economic development in a recent event that highlighted actionable strategies for improving economic opportunity, quality of life, and quality of place. The recording is available here.
Our own online discussion with Dr. Nicholas Jacobs, co-author of The Rural Voter: The Politics of Place and the Disuniting of America, is coming soon. Learn more about how and why geography matters in American politics on October 24, 2024, at noon CDT. Register here.
