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Worlds Apart: Poverty and Politics in Rural America, Second Edition PDF

329 Pages·2015·1.448 MB·English
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w or l d s a pa rt YY66551155..iinnddbb ii 77//2244//1144 1111::2288::0099 AAMM YY66551155..iinnddbb iiii 77//2244//1144 1111::2288::0099 AAMM cynthia m. duncan worlds Poverty and Politics in Rural America apart Second Edition Foreword by Angela Glover Blackwell New Haven & London YY66551155..iinnddbb iiiiii 77//2244//1144 1111::2288::0099 AAMM Published with assistance from the foundation established in memory of Philip Hamilton McMillan of the Class of 1894, Yale College. First edition published 1999 as Worlds Apart: Why Poverty Persists in Rural America. Second edition 2014. Copyright © 1999, 2014 by Yale University. Foreword copyright © 2014 by Angela Glover Blackwell. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers. Designed by Jeanette Olender and set in Granjon type by Newgen North America. Printed in the United States of America by R. R. Donnelley & Sons, Harrisonburg, Virginia. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Duncan, Cynthia M. Worlds apart: poverty and politics in rural America / Cynthia M. Duncan—Second edition. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978–0–300–19659–7 (alk. paper) 1. Poverty—United States. 2. Rural poor—United States—Interviews. 3. United States—Rural conditions. 4. United States—Social conditions—1980– I. Title. HC110.P6D86 2014 305.5′690973—dc23 2014009145 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 YY66551155..iinnddbb iivv 77//2244//1144 1111::2288::0099 AAMM For Bill Duncan A U YY66551155..iinnddbb vv 77//2244//1144 1111::2288::0099 AAMM This page intentionally left blank Contents New Foreword by Angela Glover Blackwell, ix Foreword to the 1999 Edition by Robert Coles, xiii Preface to the 1999 Edition, xvii Preface and Acknowledgments for the 2014 Edition, xxi List of People Profi led, xxiii chapter one Blackwell: Rigid Classes and Corrupt Politics in Appalachia’s Coal Fields 1 “Good Rich People” and “Bad Poor People,” 3 Blackwell Yesterday: Developing Appalachia’s Coal Fields, 11 The Families That Run Things, 17 The Politics of Work in the Mountains, 30 Blackwell’s Have-Nots: Scratching a Living Up the Hollows, 39 Blackwell’s Haves: The Good Life on Redbud Hill, 53 Bringing Change to Blackwell, 58 Blackwell Twenty Years Later: Hunkering Down with Family, 71 chapter two Dahlia: Racial Segregation and Planter Control in the Mississippi Delta 89 Dahlia’s Two Social Worlds, 90 Work in Dahlia: Creating and Maintaining the Plantation World, 106 Class and Caste in the Delta, 112 White Planters, Politicians, and Shopkeepers, 127 YY66551155..iinnddbb vviiii 77//2244//1144 1111::2288::0099 AAMM contents viii Leadership in the Black Community: The Old and the New “Toms,” 139 Dahlia’s Emerging Middle Class, 156 Dahlia Twenty Years Later: New Jobs and New Politics (with Gemma Beckley), 167 chapter three Gray Mountain: Equality and Civic Involvement in Northern New England 188 A Blue-Collar Middle-Class Mill Town, 190 Participation and Investment in the 1990s, 200 The Big Middle “Continuum,” 214 Diffi cult Times Ahead: Putting Civic Culture to the Test, 220 Gray Mountain Twenty Years Later: Holding on to a Blue-Collar Community, 222 chapter four Social Change and Social Policy 233 Cultural and Structural Causes of Persistent Poverty, 233 Class and Politics in Rural Communities, 237 Equality, Democracy, and Social Change, 244 Policies to Encourage Mobility and Build Civic Culture, 246 Policy for Poor People in Poor Places, 254 Appendix, 265 Notes, 289 Acknowledgments for the 1999 Edition, 297 Index, 299 YY66551155..iinnddbb vviiiiii 77//2244//1144 1111::2288::0099 AAMM Foreword by Angela Glover Blackwell President Barack Obama has called inequality the defi ning challenge for America in the twenty-fi rst century. The economic model of recent decades is failing nearly everyone except those at the very top. This is true not only for the very poor but also for lower- and middle-income families. It is espe- cially true in rural communities, where poverty and isolation combine with spatial challenges and a history of disinvestment. When the fi rst edition of Worlds Apart was published, the United States economy seemed to be fl ying high. The stock market was soaring. The na- tional unemployment rate was only 4 percent, the lowest in nearly a quarter century. Yet poverty persisted. Professor Duncan painted an unforgettable picture of what that looked like in rural America and examined the eco- nomic and political forces that left so many remote communities behind. Things are different now. The apparent prosperity of the late 1990s and early 2000s turned out to be a bubble that obscured deep structural problems in the U.S. economy. Good jobs are disappearing, the middle class is shrinking, and inequality has reached an all-time high. More than 100 million people—a third of the population—live in or near poverty, and for the fi rst time in modern his- tory, employment does not offer a sure path out. Millions of people work in low-wage jobs that leave them struggling to make ends meet. In the shadow of worsening economic insecurity, the nation’s overall ru- ral population dipped from 2010 to 2012—the fi rst net loss ever recorded. Only 230 rural counties had growth rates higher than the national average of 1.7 percent, while 1,200 rural counties lost population. America also looks different for another reason: the historic shift in de- mographics. By midcentury, a majority of the population will be people of color. Already, most babies born in the United States are infants of color. By YY66551155..iinnddbb iixx 77//2244//1144 1111::2288::0099 AAMM

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