Rural Sociology Commons^™

Women Self-Help Groups As Drivers Of Community Development In Rural Kenya, James Kariuki, Bhoke Chacha

Journal of Global Awareness

Self-Help Groups (SHGs) are informal grassroots associations of people who have similar objectives and concerns working cooperatively and collectively to meet their needs and improve their living conditions. SHGs are known to contribute towards the development and welfare of their members. This paper examines the role of SHGs in community development in Kenya with a focus on selected women groups in Migori and Makueni Counties. The study adopted a mixed research approach that provided both qualitative and quantitative data, and it was anchored on two interrelated theories of community development: empowerment theory and social capital theory. The researchers interviewed 80 …

A Phenomenological Study Of Rural Immigrants And Their Experiences Of Community Leadership, Jian Ju Yeo

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

The turn of the 21st century has seen a new settlement pattern of immigrants bypassing traditional urban gateways and locating to rural spaces instead. Rural immigration presents a unique opportunity to advance the vitality of small towns as the development of communities is best served by a fully networked and integrated community. The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to examine the experiences of rural immigrants with community leadership. Research questions focused on how rural immigrants perceive, identify with, and access their local community leadership. Through one-on-one interviews, 10 participants provided rich qualitative data that were analyzed to yield …

Exploring The Landscape Of Collective Leadership Practice In Rural Nebraska: A Qualitative Sequential Multimethod Study, Haden Myles Botkin

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Rural communities across Nebraska face a myriad of complex challenges that cannot be solved by individual, heroic leaders. As such, collective leadership has begun to emerge in these communities as actors coalesce around local issues. However, little is known about collective leadership practice and development in rural contexts, resulting in a theory-to-practice gap. To that end, this qualitative sequential multimethod study sought to explore how rural community leaders and community development educators perceive, describe, and make meaning of collective leadership practices in rural Nebraska. Three phases comprise this study.

Phase I, the QUAL phase, was guided by the question, How …

Community Belonging: Experiences Of Outsiderness In Appalachia, Erin Hudnall

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study demonstrates the potential long standing social impacts of extractive industries in Appalachia, supported by historical data and literature that defines the region as a sacrifice zone or as resource cursed. As represented by key informants and the communities under observational study, West Virginia communities can exhibit dynamics indicative of collective trauma that is emplaced and complex in nature, given a historical high level of industrial intervention and social control that induced precarious economic, environmental, and social circumstances. Some of the main “symptoms” of this collective trauma are an aversion to outsider intervention and nostalgia about the past that …

Perceptions Of Future Community And Individual Well-Being In Rural Nebraska, Amanda L. Kowalewski

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Populations of rural areas continue to decline, yet some communities are more vibrant than ever. While past research has studied current satisfaction or well-being, few have examined future well-being. Using an ordinal logistic regression and combining primary and secondary data sources, this study investigates the predictors of rural Nebraskan’s sense of future well-being, both at the community and individual levels. The model indicates that resilience may be more important in well-being than social capital. Additionally, certain satisfaction indicators are more important than others. Factor analysis was employed to re-index variables, and findings were similar. Social capital, resilience, and quality of …

Community Development Financial Institutions (Cdfis): An Analysis Within The Political And Economic Context Of Neoliberalism, Tracie Victoria Wynand

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This thesis explores Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) business models by examining the organizational structures, procedural operations, services, and geography. It aims to understand its overall behavior as a financial institution providing low-income communities financial services and ultimately the role it plays within the neoliberal context. The research identifies that CDFIs ultimately hold a mission that promotes economic prosperity from within the neoliberal project by expanding free-market capitalist beliefs and practices when servicing low-income communities. Additionally, the findings suggest that CDFIs take on the role of the neoliberal state by operating in tandem with the Nonprofit Industrial Complex (NPIC), which …

‘Food As Commons’ Within An Australian Aboriginal Context, Anne Jennings

Nulungu Journal Articles

Abstract not available for this article.

Neighborhood Associations: The Foundation Of Community Development, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Neighborhood associations are one of the most ubiquitous types of voluntary organization. This paper reviews a variety of theoretical and practical perspectives on the concept of neighborhood and the various organized expressions of neighborhood organizing in rural and urban communities.

A Study Of Community Satisfaction, Environmental Concern, And Attitudes Toward Development On Virginia's Eastern Shore, Tasha M. Brown

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This study assesses community satisfaction, prodevelopment attitudes, environmental concern and intent to move on Virginia's Eastern Shore, an area that is experiencing population decline, high poverty levels, and competing interests of economic development and environmental concern. Poverty levels on the Eastern Shore differ substantially by race with 35 percent of Blacks compared to 12 percent of Whites living in poverty in 1990. Human capital theory suggests that rural residents, and rural minorities in particular, have lower incomes and more unemployment because they are not increasing their human capital through education and training. A review of previous research led to four …