Worlds Apart : Why Poverty Persists in Rural America

by Cynthia M. Duncan; Foreword by Robert Coles

• ISBN13: 9780300076288
• ISBN10: 0300076282
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 1999-05-11
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

Over five years, sociologist Cynthia Duncan visited remote rural areas across the U.S. and conducted 350 in-depth interviews with the residents to unravel the ways in which poverty is perpetuated--and what can be done to alleviate the problem. Illustrations.

Table of Contents

Map of Northern New England, Central Appalachia, and the Mississippi Delta	ii
Foreword	ix
Robert Coles
Preface	xiii
List of People Profiled	xvi
Blackwell: Rigid Classes and Corrupt Politics in Appalachia's Coal Fields	1	(72)
``Good Rich People'' and ``Bad Poor People''	3	(8)
Blackwell Yesterday: Developing Appalachia's Coal Fields	11	(6)
The Families That Run Things	17	(13)
The Politics of Work in the Mountains	30	(9)
Blackwell's Have-Nots: Scratiching a Living Up the Hollows	39	(14)
Blackwell's Haves: The Good Life on Redbud Hill	53	(6)
Bringing Change to Blackwell	59	(14)
Dahlia: Racial Segregation and Planter Control in the Mississippi Delta	73	(79)
Dahlia's Two Social Worlds	74	(16)
Work in Dahlia: Creating and Maintaining the Plantation World	90	(6)
Class and Caste in the Delta	96	(15)
White Planters, Politicians, and Shopkeepers	111	(12)
Leadership in the Black Community: The Old and the New ``Toms''	123	(17)
Dahlia's Emerging Middle Class	140	(12)
Gray Mountain: Equality and Civic Involvement in Northern New England	152	(35)
A Blue-Collar Middle-Class Mill Town	154	(10)
Participation and Investment in the 1990s	164	(13)
The Big Middle ``Continuum''	177	(7)
Difficult Times Ahead: Putting Civic Culture to the Test	184	(3)
Social Change and Social Policy	187	(22)
Cultural and Structural Causes of Persistent Poverty	187	(4)
Class and Politics in Rural Communities	191	(7)
Equality, Democracy, and Social Change	198	(2)
Policies to Encourage Mobility and Build Civic Culture	200	(9)
Appendix	209	(14)
Notes	223	(6)
Acknowledgments	229	(2)
Index	231