Roundup: April 27, 2023
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 a recent article in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Qingxiao Li (Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, Louisiana State University) and Metin Cakir (Applied Economics, University of Minnesota) examine the geographical distribution of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Specifically, the authors estimate the extent SNAP purchasing power changes across state lines by constructing a Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) price index to measure regional food price differences. Using the TFP price index, the authors find significant differences in relative purchasing power across state lines that impact SNAP participation.
In Waves, Floods, Currents: The Politics and Poetics of Water in Social Movement Analysis, Jamie Matthews (Sociology, University of London) explores how water can be used to understand social movements. Published in the Antipode, the article shows how water has influenced not only social changes, but also political struggles and modern interpretations of capitalism.
Keeping with the water theme, Austin Holland (Center for Land Use Education, University of Wisconsin), Mary Skopec (Iowa Lakeside Laboratory, University of Iowa), and Silvia Secchi (Geographical & Sustainability Sciences, University of Iowa) assess the Iowa Great Lakes region conservation efforts in an attention-gripping article called “Death by a Thousand Cuts”: Conservation Stakeholders’ Perspectives on Protecting Lakes in a Tourist Region Surrounded by Agriculture. Viewing the freshwater systems as complex social-economic systems, the authors examine the environmental pressures facing the region, barriers to mitigation efforts, and solutions within a polycentric system.
Information sharing has proven to be difficult in rural areas. However, in Incentivizing and Nudging Farmers to Spread Information: Experimental Evidence from Ethiopia, Solomon Balew, Erwin Bulte (both Development Economics Group, Wageningen University), Zewdu Abro (International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Addis Ababa), and Menale Kassie (International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Nairobi) attempt to overcome that difficulty by investigating innovation in information sharing. The authors experiment with knowledge sharing regarding a pest management system among farmers and explore how the knowledge is spread.
A large group of authors discuss Indigenous peoples’ collaboration with non-Indigenous actors for conservation of ancestral homelands in Balpara: A Practical Approach to Working with Ontological Difference in Indigenous Land and Sea Management. This piece evaluates an emerging approach to good-faith partnerships, while reflecting on ensuing benefits, challenges, and limitations. The authors include Otto Campion and Beau Austin (both Research Institute for Environment & Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University), Simon West (Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University), Katie Degnian (Bush Heritage Australia, Melbourne), Emma Ignjic (Ground Up: Planning and Ecology Support, Cairns), and Mali Djarrbal, Charlie Ramandjarri, Gladys Malibirr, Margaret Guwankil, Peter Djigirr, Florence Biridjala, and Solomon O’Ryan (all of Arafura Swamp Rangers Aboriginal Corporation (ASRAC), Ramingining).
News & Commentary
Jon Marcus, in an article published in the Seattle Times, found that more than one-third of community college students fail to complete their degree or transfer to a four-year university. In More Than a Third of Community College Students Have Vanished, Marcus identifies two major causes in the failure to support vulnerable students.
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) in the United States Postal Service has produced a report on the importance of the postal service in rural areas. In this article, the OIG discusses the development of the rural postal system, the reasons for post office closures, and what tools are going unused in preventing those closures.
While lack of technology is a frequent topic of discussion in rural scholarship, Eric Geller, writing for Wired, shares a different danger of technological access: cyberattacks. As agriculture and farming become increasingly automated and digitized, more and more weaknesses are introduced to the cyber world unprotected. You can read about the vulnerability of the food and agriculture sector in the United States here.
Another recurring challenge in rural scholarship is the difficulty of settling on a single definition of “rural.” In Is Rural America Struggling? It Depends on How You Define ‘Rural,’ Sarah Melotte addresses government categorization. This article in The Daily Yonder focuses on the Office of Budget and Management and the 2020 Census, and on how some growing rural areas will become metropolitan counties and the effect of flip-flopping characterization.
Events & Recordings
In Gimme Shelter: The California Housing Crisis Podcast, Manuela Tobias discusses a months-long investigation into California’s mobile home parks along with Mary Franklin Harvin and Liam Dillon. You can hear all about it in their episode Mobile home parks in disrepair.
If you only have a few minutes to get your rural policy fix for the day, check out this segment by Aaron Bonderson from Nebraska Public Media and Harvest Public Media. In under five minutes, he discusses innovation from rural communities without access to grocery stores.
Dr. Andrew Curley discusses the cultural legacy and impact of Arizona’s dams, reservoirs, and water systems in a presentation at the University of Arizona entitled De-Colonizing the Colorado River: Can We Re-Think Our Relationship with Water? In evaluating the factors contributing to Arizona’s water crisis, Dr. Durley discusses the Colorado River Compact, Indigenous ways of thinking, and more.
The Law and Political Economy (LPE) Project held a Convening on Law and Power Building event earlier this month at New York University, featuring Keynote Speaker Lester Spence from Johns Hopkins University. He and many other equally impressive and dedicated professors, activists, and community members came together to discuss how they have used the law in service of organizing for social, economic, and racial justice. Be sure to catch their upcoming events here.
In a recently developed podcast, Commons Groundswell, the Agrarian Trust examines human relationships with land through inspiring conversations with leaders, change-makers, and Agrarian Trust collaborators. In their most recent episode, they interview Tyrone Cherry III of CommUNITY Oasis Farm and the impacts it has had on the youth of Petersburg, Virginia.
The National Governor’s Association Center for Best Practices recently hosted a series of virtual roundtables discussing equitable rural economic development and equitable healthcare. In this article, staff writers Anna Heard and Sally Rood (both NGA) discuss the outcomes of the two roundtables and the responses from the different states.