32610
Seminar
SoSe 18: Rural Sociology
Harald Wenzel
Comments
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 close
13 Class schedule
Regular appointments
Mon, 2018-04-16 12:00 - 14:00
Mon, 2018-04-23 12:00 - 14:00
Mon, 2018-04-30 12:00 - 14:00
Mon, 2018-05-07 12:00 - 14:00
Mon, 2018-05-14 12:00 - 14:00
Mon, 2018-05-28 12:00 - 14:00
Mon, 2018-06-04 12:00 - 14:00
Mon, 2018-06-11 12:00 - 14:00
Mon, 2018-06-18 12:00 - 14:00
Mon, 2018-06-25 12:00 - 14:00
Mon, 2018-07-02 12:00 - 14:00
Mon, 2018-07-09 12:00 - 14:00
Mon, 2018-07-16 12:00 - 14:00