Roundup: April 18, 2021
Ann M. Eisenberg (South Carolina Law) has published Economic Regulation and Rural America in the Washington University Law Review. This article critiques specific policy choices that have contributed to the marginalization of rural America and explores policy tools that could affirmatively improve rural futures.
Jennifer Sherman (Washington State Sociology) has a new book, Dividing Paradise Rural Inequality and the Diminishing American Dream, out now with UC Press. According to the publisher, the book “tells the story of Paradise Valley, Washington, a rural community where amenity-driven economic growth has resulted in a new social landscape of inequality and privilege, with deep fault lines between old-timers and newcomers.” This is situated in a wider narrative about increasing inequality across rural landscapes. (I have already ordered my copy and cannot wait to read this.)
Emily Prifogle (Michigan Law) has published her new article, Rural Social Safety Nets for Migrant Farmworkers in Michigan, 1942–1971, in Law & Social Inquiry. This fascinating work dives into the informal social safety nets established for rural farmworkers in mid-century Michigan, including especially the work of rural women acting both charitably and as religious missionaries. Dr. Prifogle also presented part of this work in her fascinating talk for our Rural Law and Policy seminar series this semester. Recording available here.
Natalie Baszile has published We Are Each Other's Harvest Celebrating African American Farmers, Land, and Legacy. This anthology collects “essays, poems, photographs, quotes, conversations, and first-person stories to examine black people’s connection to the American land from Emancipation to today.”
News & Commentary
David Treuer published Return the National Parks to the Tribes in The Atlantic. This is a really provocative piece that not only pushes logics of environmental justice but also reminds of the dispossession and violence enacted in the creation of our national parks in the first place.
The New York Times editorial board has an interesting opinion piece on low-income Americans and property taxes, which has interesting rural ramifications, too: How Lower-Income Americans Get Cheated on Property Taxes.
Not a pleasant read, necessarily, but The Guardian has a really compelling feature on the changing demands of animal carcass removal in a changing rural landscape: The Knackerman: The Toughest Job in British Farming.
Zack Colman, Liz Crampton, and Helena Bottemiller Evich have a comprehensive feature in Politico exploring the many complexities of President Biden’s proposals connecting agriculture and climate change responses: Biden Mulls Giving Farmers Billions to Fight Climate Change. Even Farmers Are Unsure about the Plan.
Events & Recordings
Rural Assembly Everywhere will be April 20 and 21, 2021, with free registration at the link.