Worlds Apart: Why Poverty Persists in Rural America [Paperback]

Cynthia M. Duncan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 11, 2000

In this compelling book, Cynthia Duncan examines the nature of poverty by listening to the stories of real people in remote rural areas of the United States. A persistent inequality characterizes two communities she describes, but in another a rich civic culture helps the poor escape poverty. Focusing on the implications of these differences, Duncan offers powerful insights into the dynamics of poverty, politics, and change.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

University of New Hampshire sociologist Duncan (Rural Poverty in America, not reviewed) looks at the social relations and political and economic institutions that perpetuate poverty in rural America. ``Blackwell'' (place names have been changed) in Appalachia and Dahlia on the Mississippi Delta, are two of the poorest areas in the US. Duncan studied the lives of the residents of these places, and what she found was communities where the ``haves'' and ``have nots'' inhabit different worlds within historically structured, rigid class and, in Dahlia, race divisions. In both places local elitescoal company operators in Blackwell, plantation owners in Dahliacontrol not only the economic life of the community but the political life as well. Their power is near absolute, and they use public institutions, including schools, to further their own interests and punish those who cross them. The poor remain ``powerless, dependent, and do not participate'' in civic life. A kind of stasis sets in where the poor see no option but to give way to those who have always had power, and the powerful resist change as it may threaten their status. In contrast, ``Gray Mountain,'' in northern New England, is a town with a strong civic culture based on a blue-collar middle class that has created public institutionsfrom little league to effective schoolsthat serve all in the community. Duncan, through in-depth investigation and interviews, concludes that only a strong civic culture, a sense among citizens of community and the need to serve that community, can truly address poverty. Yet class and race relations in places like Blackwell and Dahlia preclude such a sense of community. Her answer, going against so much conventional wisdom, is federal government intervention, especially to create equitable school systems where they do not exist. Only such intervention, Duncan asserts, will give the poor the knowledge of alternatives, the hope they now lack. Moving and troubling. Duncan has created a remarkable study of the persistent patterns of poverty and power. (The books foreword is by Robert Coles.) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

The debate goes on, and Cynthia Duncan's Worlds Apart is must reading for anyone involved. Those who advocate the need for greater sense of social responsibility in our attitude toward the poor will find much support in this study. -- Thomas Bokenkotter, America --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press; 1 edition (August 11, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300084560
• ISBN-13: 978-0300084566
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #156,377 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing book, October 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Worlds Apart: Why Poverty Persists in Rural America (Hardcover)

From the title, this sounds like a very serious book - and the topic is serious, for sure - but the surprise is that it's fascinating to delve into these communities and understand how people of all income levels live day to day. This is a very well written piece that uses lots of real life situations to illustrate it's larger point - that poor people can escape poverty when given a chance. That could be a supportive community, a supportive grandmother, or a good supportive school system. Especially interesting is the proposition that the federal government could make a big difference by ensuring that local school systems in high poverty communities (rural or urban) really serve the needs of their students, including those from poor families. Releasing people from poverty seems like a big impact for just getting the schools to do what they should do anyway.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Eye-opener, January 10, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Worlds Apart: Why Poverty Persists in Rural America (Hardcover)

As a student, I am required to ready many books,and most of them are dry. Cynthia Duncan shows in 'Worlds Apart' that sociology does not have to be boring. She made an uncomfortable subject easy to read. I only put the book down because I had other assignments to read. I loved how she intertwines the statements from the interviewees into her findings and discussions. Cynthia Duncan does not just draw a bleak picture, but shows what everybody could do differently. I already recommended the book to friends, and would recommend it especially to people still thinking about the worthy and un-worthy poor.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars milestone insights about what makes a strong community, October 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Worlds Apart: Why Poverty Persists in Rural America (Hardcover)

I found this book both a page turner-with its gripping first person stories-and a revelation. Though the book's subtitle is "Why Poverty Persists in Rural America," I would say this book has major implications for urban and suburban as well as rural places and policies. I have worked for many years in the field of community development. This book is truly explains what makes a strong community. Here is a sociologist who actually spent years out `in the field' talking to the gamut of people who live there, and building her insights from the ground up. Robert Putnam may tell us about northern Italy or national trends in the U.S. Duncan goes far deeper and for the first time, as far as I know, figures out why we need mixed income communities, why a large gap between the poor and the rich isn't good for a specific community or for the nation as a whole, and how we could make it possible for poor families, in inner cities as well as rural places, to break out of generations of poverty. Imagine what would happen if public policy were based on the insights of this milestone book! Alice Shabecoff, founder and former executive director of the Community Information Exchange.