Publication Type: Abstract
Abstract: Things, ideas, and people are on the move, and European rural scholarship is buzzing with talk of it. The language for this recognition is that of “flows” and “mobilities,” which is often linked to the notion that we now live in a “post-rural” world. Yet there is a curious passivity—an immobility—to how the rural is considered under such a framing: The rural stays put while the flowing tides of urbanization wash over its remaining traces in the sand. Moreover, these mobile flows are often understood as ending the rural, but never as an end to the urban. But what of the thought that flows and mobilities engender a mobile rural, an active rural that is its own tide of materials and ideas? In this paper, I consider this active thought, and associated manifestations in action, and the consequences for both rural and urban lives.

Publication Type: Paper (prepared oral presentation)
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Most research suggests that individuals living in impoverished environments are significantly disadvantaged on a variety of social indicators, including civic engagement. Indeed, the resource theory of political behavior helps explain the fact that voting turnout and political knowledge are generally very low in poor, urban neighborhoods. However, small towns and rural areas reveal a paradox: on the one hand, rural areas are just as, or even more impoverished, as many urban neighborhoods; however, these same communities typically have high levels of social capital, including political knowledge and participation. Using the American National Elections Study, this paper examines how communities with similar levels of poverty can produce such different civic outcomes.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: A study of rural children revealed some effects the Internet has on that population. Rural children who had Internet access at home were more likely to Web surf for materials that already interested them. Rural children who used the Internet more frequently were more likely to chat with other people online. Rural children who wanted to preserve their roots more were less likely to desire an urbanized family in the future. And, unexpectedly, rural children who identified more with others online were less likely to desire an urbanized family. The implications of these results are discussed as well as the need for further research.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper introduces the concept "inner-city rural" as a means of explaining the association between exposure to urban popular culture, adverse social conditions and the social construction of gender identies and lifestyles that increase the risk of violent crime offending and victimzation among African American youth and young adults who reside in predominantly Black rural communities.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: What are the impacts of fiscal decentralization on local governance? I examine the incentives this created for rural governments to promote market development through illegal labor mobility, and the impact this mobility had on later policy change. I