Locality and Inequality: Farm and Industry Structure and Socioeconomic Conditions

by Linda M. Lobao

Overview

This book explores how the recent restructuring of farming and industry has affected economic and social equality in the United States. The author explains how the farm sector has undergone a dramatic restructuring with profound effects. Moderate-size family farms, the mainstay of American agriculture, have declined during the postwar period and are now under severe financial stress. Large-scale industrialized farms - "the factories in the field," often run by corporations - continue to expand their share of agricultural sales while small farms operated on a part-time basis appear to be replacing traditional family farming.

Lobao shows that public concern about farm restructuring is indeed warranted and that the nation now appears to be losing its most beneficial farms as well as industries. While local and regional social and economic forces and state policy can be brought to bear on these trends, Lobao particulary focuses on how community empowerment and broad-based political coalitions offer the most promise for fundamental change.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780791404768
Publisher:	State University of New York Press
Publication date:	10/09/1990
Series:	SUNY series, The New Inequalities
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	291
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Linda M. Lobao is Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology at The Ohio State University.

Table of Contents

List of Tables

List of Figures

Acknowledgments

1. Introduction and Overview

2. The Uneven Development of Farm and Industrial Structure

3. Farm Structure and Socioeconomic Inequality

4. Industry Structure, Worker Power, Spatial Characteristics, and Socioeconomic Inequality

5. The Design of the Study: Data, Measurement of Variables, and Methods of Analysis

6. Local Inequality: National Patterns

7. Local Inequality: Regional Comparisons

8. Farming and the Nonfarm Sector: Industry and Other Local Linkages

9. Conclusions

Appendix

Notes

References

Index

Editorial Reviews

The work is quite readable and extremely useful for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and professionals.” — A. Gary Dworkin, University of Houston

“I suspect that this will be read favorably by many political scientists concerned with locality and policy. Lobao does a nice job of relating the research to policy recommendations.” — William W. Falk, University of Maryland at College Park

From the Publisher

On the theory and practice of processing real time, varying imagery. Five chapters. No index. A study of how the structure of both farming and industry shape the patterns and levels of local inequality. The focus is primarily on farming and how the change from moderate-size family farms to large- scale industrialized farms during 1970-80 has affected community life and opportunities throughout the nation. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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