Suchergebnisse

Abstract Urban and rural poverty researchers have been paying increased attention to the social context in which the poor are embedded. This paper argues that the scale, familiarity among social actors, and relatively bounded nature of poor rural communities offer unique advantages for understanding why poverty persists across generations in the same places. Rural sociologists can observe the social interaction associated with particular class and race relations, track the evolution of these patterns over time, and uncover the process through which the social class context perpetuates poverty and underdevelopment. Studies of poverty in rural Texas, rural Mississippi, and Appalachia are reviewed to illustrate how political economies that rely on low wages and extreme control over labor generate rigid stratification. This structure of inequality determines social interaction and the allocation of opportunities in rural communities, blocking upward mobility, and undermines investment and trust in social institutions, blocking development.

This compelling book takes us to three remote rural areas in the United States to hear the colorful stories of their residents-the poor and struggling, the rich and powerful, and those in between-as they talk about their families and work, the hard times they've known, and their hopes and dreams. Cynthia M. Duncan examines the nature of poverty in Blackwell in Appalachia and in the Mississippi Delta town of Dahlia. She finds in these towns a persistent inequality that erodes the fabric of the community, feeds corrupt politics, and undermines institutions crucial for helping poor families achieve the American Dream. In contrast, New England's Gray Mountain enjoys a rich civic culture that enables the poor to escape poverty. Focusing on the implications of the differences among these communities, the author provides powerful new insights into the dynamics of poverty, politics, and community change.The author conducted 350 in-depth interviews over five years and examined ten decades of U.S. Census data to unravel the ways poverty is perpetuated. Duncan unmasks the lack of basic democracy in poor places, but she also illustrates how a large middle class that supports public investment can make antipoverty and development programs work

Abstract Many urban analysts studying poor inner city communities argue that social isolation in poor neighborhoods perpetuates poverty. This paper extends analysis of social context to rural areas, comparing a chronically poor coal‐dependent Appalachian community with a more diverse, resource‐rich community in northern New England. The Appalachian community has more limited job opportunities and over time the scarcity of jobs in a volatile coal economy generated a divided social context. In contrast, the community in northern New England offers both more opportunities for work and has a stable, working middle class that invests in and uses public goods; the poor are not deliberately segregated. These differences in communities' socioeconomic context are reflected in poor women's experiences and aspirations.

First published in 1999, Worlds Apart examined the nature of poverty through the stories of real people in three remote rural areas of the United States: New England, Appalachia, and the Mississippi Delta. In this new edition, Duncan returns to her original research, interviewing some of the same people as well as some new key informants. Duncan provides powerful new insights into the dynamics of poverty, politics, and community change. ";What stories Mil Duncan has to tell! In this new edition of her classic Worlds Apart, she offers sage advice about how to begin to reverse the dangerously growing divide between rich and poor in our country.";—Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone and Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis ";A mosaic of intimate portraits revealing the social, ecenomic, and political isolation of rural poverty, Worlds Apart is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the root causes of inquality in America.";—Darren Walker, president, Ford Foundation

Frontmatter --Contents --Notes on Contributors --Introduction: The Political Landscapes of American Health, 1945-2020 --Part I: Geography, Community and American Health --Introduction --1 Health and Inequality in the Postwar Metropolis --2 Poverty, Health and Health Care in Rural Communities --3 The Politics of Immigration Meets the Politics of Health Care --4 Latinxs and the US Health Care System --5 American Indian Health: The Medicine Wheel versus the Iron Triangle --Part II: Critical Health Conditions: Debates and Histories --Introduction --6 The Politics of Polio Vaccination in Postwar America, 1950-60: Detractors and Defenders --7 Beyond the Cancer Wars --8 A System in Crisis: US Health Care Politics and the AIDS Epidemic --9 The Politics of 'Obesity': Medicalization, Stigmatization and Liberation of Fat Bodies --10 Revising Diagnoses, Reinventing Psychiatry: DSM and Major Depressive Disorder --Part III: The Politics of Children's Health --Introduction --11 US Children's Health Insurance: Policy Advocacy and Ideological Conflict --12 Autism and the Anti-Vaccine Movement --13 Diagnosing Deficit, Promising Enhancement: ADHD and Stimulants on Screen --14 On the Possibility of Affirmative Health Care for Transgender Children --15 Black Infant Mortality: Continuities, Contestations and Care --Part IV: The Institutional Matrix of Health Care --Introduction --16 The Regional and Racial Politics of Postwar Hospitals --17 Health Activism in the 1960s and the Community Health Center System --18 The Veterans Administration and PTSD: Challenges and Changes from Vietnam to Iraq --19 The Pharmaceutical Industry, Drug Regulation and US Health Services --20 The National Institutes of Health: Courting Congress, Creating a Research Infrastructure --Part V: The White House, Congress and Health Reform --Introduction --21 Left Out: Health Security and the American Welfare State, 1935-50 --22 Medicare and Medicaid after the Great Society: Containing Costs, Expanding Coverage --23 Mental Health, Stigma and Federal Reform in the 1970s and 1990s --24 The War on Drugs: Nixon, Reagan, Trump --25 Obamacare and Its Critics --Part VI: Justice, Ethics and American Health --Introduction --26 Roe v. Wade and the Cultural Politics of Abortion: The Shift from Rights to Health --27 Genetics, Health and the Making of America's Triracial Isolates, 1950-80 --28 The Rhetoric and Politics of American Ageism: Notes from a Pandemic --29 Towards a Structural Competency Framework for Addressing US Gun Violence --30 Mass Incarceration and Health Inequity in the United States --Part VII: Public Health and Global Health --Introduction --31 Occupational and Environmental Health in Twentieth-Century America --32 Environmental Health beyond the State: Thinking through the 1970s --33 Bioterrorism, Pandemic and the American Public --34 Health Internationalism in the US and Beyond --35 Pandemics and the Politics of Planetary Health --Bibliography --Index