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SoSe 18: Rural Sociology

Harald Wenzel

Kommentar

The landslide victory of Donald Trump in the rural areas of the United States is another chapter in a long story. This victory is so amazing since most farmers who voted 2008 for Obama voted in 2016 for Trump – there is no difference whether we look at corn farmers in Ohio or grain farmers in Washington State. Trump’s immediate cancellation of TPP, the consequent loss of a yearly revenue of $4,000,000,000 obviously didn’t make these farmers think twice. Why? To understand this one has to look into rural sociology – this is much more than the sociology of modern agriculture which might be too easily identified with big, dominating corporations like Monsanto. About 95% of all farms in the U.S. are still family businesses. If one wants to understand the rural population one has to study families first – their social networks, their cultural frames, their problems. ----- The long story is about families living in precarious situations – at least this will make up its main chapters. We will look into this story from different perspectives: the historical, the ideological, the social-structural. Comparative perspectives (Europe, Asia) are also welcome. ----- Recommended literature: Robert Wuthnow, The Left Behind. Decline and Rage in Rural America, Princeton 2018: Princeton University Press. ----- http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2013/09/tragedy-industrial-farming-charts ----- http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2013/09/does-corporate-farming-exist-barely Schließen

13 Termine

Regelmäßige Termine der Lehrveranstaltung

Mo, 12:00 - 14:00 13 Termine

Mo, 16.04.2018 12:00 - 14:00

Dozenten:
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Harald Wenzel