Rural Sociology Commons^™

Children Playing In River, Marie Lee

All Photographs

Photo from Dimen Village of two boys and a girl swimming in the river. The boys are standing on the cut stone dam.

How Wisconsin Extension Educators Talk About Climate Change Without Talking About ``Climate Change'', Sky Hershberger, Todd P. Newman

Journal of Extension

Climate change touches all areas of Extension's programming. To understand how educators approach talking about climate change with constituents, we interviewed 15 Extension educators and three program managers in Wisconsin. Crops and Soils educators view climate change as interwoven with their work, Financial Education educators view it as mostly disconnected, and Community Economic Development educators range between these extremes. Educators in all three programs avoid the polarizing phrase ``climate change,'' instead focusing on specific, local, and relatable issues. Educators show empathy and emphasize resilience (adaptation) rather than mitigation. These findings can inform Extension's organizational strategy on climate change.

Remixing Dialogue: A Case Study On Perceptions Of Hip Hop Pedagogy In A Professional Learning Course, Kelly J. Thelen

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This qualitative case study examines how teachers’ decision-making and professional autonomy shift while participating in a Hip Hop Pedagogy Professional Learning course supported by structured FIXIT (Lo & Wachter, 2023a, 2023b, 2023c, 2023d; Wachter & Lo, 2024) game-facilitated dialogue in a rural, culturally and linguistically diverse Midwest community. Grounded in Freire’s (1970) Critical Pedagogy, Ladson-Billings’ (1995) Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (Paris and Alim, 2017), and Adult Learning Theory (Knowles et al., 2005), the study explores the reclamation of agency by teachers in a time of constrained creativity and educator autonomy shaped by strict policy environments, an emphasis on …

Looking For Chinese Gooseberry, Marie Lee

All Photographs

Photo from Dimen Village of Wu Meitz looking for and picking Chinese gooseberry, Actinidia chinensis, also known as wild kiwi. She will use its sap to make formation aid he will use the sap from the vine to make formation aid that keeps the paper fibers from tangling during the papermaking process.

Man Smoking Pipe, Marie Lee

All Photographs

Photo from Dengcen Village of a man with a pipe in his mouth.

Application Of Rigour And Credibility In Qualitative Document Analysis: Lessons Learnt From A Case Study, Leanne M. Wood, Bernadette Sebar, Nerina Vecchio

The Qualitative Report

This paper probes functions and processes of qualitative document analysis (QDA), a method widely used in case study research. It firstly demonstrates the application of a QDA framework to inform a case study of women entrepreneurs in rural Australia; and provides insights into the lessons learnt, including strengths and limitations of QDA. Secondly, the paper provides guidelines for novice researchers seeking to use thematic analysis in a QDA process, arguing for rigour in naming assumptions and explicitness about the procedures employed. The paper contributes to discussion in the literature that positions QDA not only as a convenient tool, but as …

Market And Operations Analysis Of Golf Courses In Connecticut, Marvin Kottke

Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station

No abstract provided.

Marxist Feminist Theory: A Review, A Critique, And An Offering, Patricia Ann Wasley Lomire

Great Plains Sociologist

The relationship between gender and stratification is one of the most problematic areas in social science (Crompton and Mann, 1988). A review of stratification theory suggests that, in general, main-stream theories are inadequate since they often ignore the independent positions of females in stratification systems (Acker,. 1973, 1980; Lenski, 1988; Tyree and Hodge, 1978). In particular, Marxist feminist theories are limiting since they are unable to explain the origin and persistence of gender domination (Balbus, 1982; Crompton and Mann, 1986; Goldthrope, 1983; Halby, 1986). Although Marxist feminism is "the most prevalent feminist framework" (Jagger and Rothenberg, 1984), it is becoming …

Making Methamphetamine, Ralph Weisheit

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

In many parts of the U.S. methamphetamine production remains a serious problem despite efforts to restrict access to precursor chemicals. Methamphetamine laboratories are a particular issue in rural areas, where many essential chemicals are available and where a lower population density means that noxious fumes are less likely to be noticed. This paper shows how the problem emerged and changed over time and includes: Early production in the U.S., the spread of meth production, the process of making meth, precursor control efforts, superlabs versus small local operations, health risks, contaminated lab sites, and children found in methamphetamine lab sites.

当代中国农村生态丶生计的文化批判 : 以山西"蒲韩社区" 为例, Xiaohui Yan

Lingnan Theses (MPhil & PhD)

在发展主义语境下，农村常常被视为衰败和落后的地区，农村发展也多被看成由贫变富的经济化过程，尤其依赖对各种“生态资源”的开发。在这一过程中，人被塑造成将“资源”变成“资本”的主体，同时人自身也被当成某种资源，乡村社会似乎被裹挟。而当代乡村建设运动，即使提出各种创新或可持续发展策略，亦未能轻易摆脱上述发展逻辑，常常使运动自身陷入困境。

本研究以山西“蒲韩社区”为主要案例，借助Felix Guattari关于三生态（the three ecologies）的视野，尝试指出，思考当下中国乡村的发展问题，须跳出一般的环境保护和经济发展论述，以及以人为中心、理性主义的主体形而上学，引入生态哲学（ecosophy）思想，在更宏观的人类生存视野下开展主体性（subjectivity）生产领域的研究，尤其要重视无意识（unconscious）的层面，重新把握构成主体性的各种力量，在乡村社区的自我组织和生产中寻求不一样的应对危机的出路。

本文探索了“蒲韩社区”如何致力于生产去辖域化（deterritorialization）的主体性，脱离同质化的辖域和个人主义的束缚，让农民可以在日常生活的各个领域重新构建集体实践活动，通过再独特化（resingularization）应对生态和生计危机。在当前的生态问题以及经济发展主导的危机面前，农民群体既不完全是被压抑和被动，也不具有充分的自主创新空间；农村社区/集体作为一个组合体（assemblage），是在各种构件（components）关系变化中持续生成的，大气候有各种限制和辖域，自我组织的集体具有潜存（virtual）的抗衡空间，在压抑和抗衡的相互斗争中持续生产出不同的主体性。

本文认为，当代的乡村建设运动，应该以主体性的生产作为突破点，克服宏大论述，在农民具体生活的领域重新把握各种潜存关系和力量，让农民可以在重新构建集体实践活动中走向再独特化的生存之路。