Rural Communities: Legacy + Change

Description

Communities in rural America are a complex mixture of peoples and cultures, ranging from miners who have been laid off in West Virginia, to Laotian immigrants relocating in Kansas to work at a beef processing plant, to entrepreneurs drawing up plans for a world-class ski resort in California's Sierra Nevada. Rural Communities: Legacy and Change uses its unique Community Capitals framework to examine how America's diverse rural communities use their various capitals (natural, cultural, human, social, political, financial, and built) to address the modern challenges that face them. Each chapter opens with a case study of a community facing a particular challenge, and is followed by a comprehensive discussion of sociological concepts to be applied to understanding the case. This narrative, topical approach makes the book accessible and engaging for undergraduate students, while its integrative approach provides them with a framework for understanding rural society based on the concepts and explanations of social science. This fifth edition is updated throughout with 2013 census data and features new and expanded coverage of health and health care, food systems and alternatives, the effects of neoliberalism and globalization on rural communities, as well as an expanded resource and activity section at the end of each chapter. Cover Half Title Title Copyright Contents List of Illustrations Preface PART ONE INTRODUCTION 1 Community Capitals and the Rural Landscape The Rural Landscape Defining Rural Defining Community Rural Communities and Change Market, State, and Civil Society About This Book Chapter Summary Key Terms Discussion Questions Web Resources References PART TWO COMPONENTS OF RURAL COMMUNITIES: THE COMMUNITY CAPITALS 2 Natural Capital Land Use Water Concerns Importance of Biodiversity Climate Change Chapter Summary Key Terms Discussion Questions Web Resources References 3 Cultural Capital Rural Values? Cultural Capital and Social Problems Diversity in Rural Cultural Capital Conflicting Cultural Capitals and Cultural Domination Cultural Capital and Hierarchy Cultural Capital and the Family Transmitting Culture Through the Community Impact of Gender, Race, and Ethnicity Inequality: Whose Cultural Capital? Creating Shared Cultural Capital Chapter Summary Key Terms Discussion Questions Web Resources References 4 Human Capital What Is Human Capital? Changes in the Quantity of Human Capital Migration of Human Capital How Different Capitals Impact Health Status in Rural Areas Health Equity The Affordable Care Act in Rural America Building Human Capital Chapter Summary Key Terms Discussion Questions Web Resources References 5 Social Capital and Community What Is Social Capital? Measuring Social Capital Bonding and Bridging Social Capital: Homogeneity or Inclusion? Entrepreneurial Social Infrastructure Chapter Summary Key Terms Discussion Questions Web Resources References 6 Political Capital Political Capital Power and Economic Interests Power Structure and Community Change Understanding Power Structure and Increasing the Political Capital of Excluded Groups Who Gains? Chapter Summary Key Terms Discussion Questions Web Resources References 7 Financial Capital The Concept of Financial Capital Accounting and Accountability Forms of Financial Capital Financial Capital and Community Needs Sources of Capital The Changing Rules of Financial Capital and Increasing Inequality Business Financial Capital and Community Chapter Summary Key Terms Discussion Questions Web Resources References 8 Built Capital Defining Built Capital Public versus Private Provision of Built Capital Community Choices Federal, State, and Local Roles: Making Linkages Motivation to Act Chapter Summary Key Terms Discussion Questions Web Resources References PART THREE COMMUNITY CAPITALS AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN A CHANGING WORLD 9 The Global Economy Altering Globalization: The Growing Importance of Financial Capital Rural Linkages to a World Economy Opportunities and Risks: Rural Areas in the Global Economy Chapter Summary Key Terms Discussion Questions Web Resources References 10 Consumption in Rural America Consumption and American Exceptionalism Consumption and Debt Consumption and Consumerism in Rural Areas Impacts of Increased Consumption Chapter Summary Key Terms Discussion Questions Web Resources References 11 Governance What Is Governance? Organization and Functions of Local Governments Challenges Face by Local Governments Providing Public Services: An Example of Collaboration Sustained Citizen Engagement Leveraging Regional Resources Chapter Summary Key Terms Discussion Questions Web Resources References 12 Generating Community Change Community and Development Models of Community Development Factors in Effective Change Approaches to Economic Development Chapter Summary Key Terms Discussion Questions Web Resources References Index