In this paper some of the issues raised in researching the ‘problematic’ of rural life-styles are discussed. It is argued that traditional normative approaches to the study of deprivation and poverty need to be supplemented by an understanding of varying social and cultural constructions of reality, community, living standards, and welfare. The importance of such social and cultural constructs is illustrated in a discussion of the discursive transformation of previous codes, symbols, and concepts of welfare and poverty during the Thatcher and Reagan eras in Britain and the USA, respectively. In a series of contested transformations, the relationship between individual, society, and state in the provision and receipt of welfare has been redefined. Moreover, it is suggested that there are important spatial differences between the urban and the rural within this discursive context, with the urban construction of ‘underclass’ contrasting with rural constructions of ‘idyll’, the latter suggesting codes and symbols of self-help which negate the need for state intervention in welfare.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BarancikS, 1990, “The rural disadvantage: Growing disparities between rural and urban studies”, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 236 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 2002
2.
BeaulieuL, 1988The Rural South in Crisis (Westview Press, Boulder, CO)
3.
BeneriaLFeldmanS, 1992Unequal Burden: Economic Crises, Persistent Poverty and Women's Work (Westview Press, Boulder, CO)
4.
BestS, 1989, “The commodification of reality and the reality of commodification. Jean Baudrillard and post-modernism”Current Perspectives in Social Theory1923–51
5.
BradleyT, 1984, “Segmentation in local labour markets”, in Locality and Rurality Eds BradleyTLowePGeobooks, Norwich) pp 65–90
6.
BradleyTLowePWrightS, 1986, “Rural deprivation and the welfare transition”, in Deprivation and Welfare in Rural Areas Eds LowePBradleyTWrightSGeobooks, Norwich) pp 1–42
7.
BrownDWarnerM, 1991, “Persistent low-income non-metropolitan areas in the United States: Some conceptual challenges for development policy”Policy Studies Journal19(2) 22–41
8.
ButtelFGillespieG, 1991, “Rural policy in political historical perspectives: The rise, fall, and uncertain future of the American welfare state”, in The Future of Rural America Ed. PiggKWestview Press, Boulder, CO) pp 76–92
9.
ClokeP, 1989, “The political economy of rural areas”, in New Models in Geography Eds PeetRThriftN (Unwin Hyman, London) pp 164–197
10.
ClokeP, 1990, “Political change and community leadership in Britain's rural areas”Sociologia Ruralis30305–322
11.
ClokeP (Ed.), 1992aPolicy and Change in Thatcher's Britain (Pergamon Press, Oxford)
12.
ClokeP, 1992b, “Rural poverty: Some initial thoughts on culture and underclass”, in Restructuring Rural Areas Eds BowlerIBryantCNellisDCAB International, Wallingford, Oxon) pp 29–48
13.
ClokeP, 1994, “Rural lifestyles: Material opportunity, cultural experience, and how theory can undermine policy”, paper presented to the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, San Francisco, CA; copy available from author
14.
ClokePGoodwinM, 1992, “Conceptualising countryside change: From post-Fordism to rural structured coherence”Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers: New Series17321–336
15.
ClokePMilbourneP, 1992, “Deprivation and lifestyles in rural Wales: II, Rurality and the cultural dimension”Journal of Rural Studies8359–371
ClokePThriftN, 1990, “Class and change in rural Britain”, in Rural Restructuring Eds MarsdenTLowePWhatmoreSDavid Fulton, London) pp 165–181
18.
CohenA, 1983Belonging (Manchester University Press, Manchester)
19.
DeanH, 1991, “In search of the underclass”, in Poor Work Eds BrownPScaseR (Open University Press, Milton Keynes) pp 113–145
20.
DuncanC (Ed.), 1992Rural Poverty in America (Auburn House, Boston, MA)
21.
FeatherstoneM, 1991Consumer Culture and Postmodernism (Sage, London)
22.
FieldF, 1989Losing Out: The Emergence of Britain's Underclass (Basil Blackwell, Oxford)
23.
FitchenJ, 1981Poverty in Rural America: A Case Study (Westview Press, Boulder, CO)
24.
FitchenJ, 1991Endangered Spaces, Enduring Places: Change, Identity and Survival in Rural America (Westview Press, Boulder, CO)
25.
FoucaultM, 1977Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middx)
26.
GarkovichL, 1989Population and Community in Rural America (Praeger, New York)
27.
GorhamLHarrisonB, 1990, “Working below the poverty line”, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
28.
HalfacreeK, 1993, “Locality and social representation: Space, discourse and alternative definitions of the rural”Journal of Rural Studies91–15
29.
HallS, 1988, “The toad in the garden: Thatcherism among the theorists”, in Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture Eds NelsonCGrossbergLMacmillan, London) pp 35–57
30.
HandlerJ FHasenfeldY, 1991The Moral Construction of Poverty (Sage, Newbury Park, CA)
31.
HarveyD, 1989The Condition of Postmodernity (Basil Blackwell, Oxford)
32.
HazlettH, 1986The Conquest of Poverty (University Press of America, Lanham, MD)
33.
HoggartK, 1990, “Let's do away with rural”Journal of Rural Studies6245–257
34.
JamesS, 1991, “The urban-rural myth—or reality?”, geographical papers 107, Department of Geography, University of Reading, Reading
35.
JamesonF, 1989, “Postmodernism, or the cultural logic of late capitalism”New Left Reviewnumber 146, 53–93
36.
JessopB, 1990, “Regulation theories in retrospect and prospect”Economy and Society19153–216
37.
KatzM, 1989The Undeserving Poor (Pantheon Books, New York)
38.
KnoxPCottamB, 1981, “Rural deprivation in Scotland: A preliminary assessment”Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie72162–175
39.
LarsonD, 1989, “Transitions of poverty amidst employment growth: Two non metro case studies”Growth and Change20(2) 19–34
40.
Le GrandJ, 1982The Strategy of Equality (Allen and Unwin, London)
41.
LewisO, 1961The Children of Sanchez (Random House, New York)
42.
LewisO, 1966aLa Vida: A Puerto Ricon Family in the Culture of Poverty (Random House, New York)
43.
LewisO, 1966b, “The culture of poverty”Scientific American21519–25
44.
LittleJ, 1986, “Feminist perspectives in rural geography”Journal of Rural Studies21–8
45.
LittleJ, 1987, “Gender relations in rural areas: The importance of women's domestic role”Journal of Rural Studies3335–342
46.
LoneyM (Ed.), 1991The State or the Market (Sage, London)
47.
LowePBradleyTWrightS (Eds), 1986Deprivation and Welfare in Rural Areas (GeoBooks, Norwich)
48.
MackJLansleyS, 1985Poor Britain (Allen and Unwin, London)
49.
McLaughlinB, 1986a, “Rural policy in the 1980s: The revival of the rural idyll”Journal of Rural Studies281–90
50.
McLaughlinB, 1986b, “The rhetoric and reality of rural deprivation”Journal of Rural Studies2291–307
51.
MartinR, 1988, “Industrial capitalism in transition: The contemporary reorganization of the British space economy”, in Uneven Redevelopment Eds MasseyDAllenJSage, London) pp 202–231
52.
MasseyD, 1988, “A new class of geography”Marxism Today (May) 12–17
53.
MeyerJRowanB, 1977, “Institutionalised organisations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony”American Journal of Sociology83340–363
MormontM, 1990, “Who is rural? or How to be rural: Towards a sociology of the rural”, in Rural Restructuring Eds MarsdenTLowePWhatmoreSDavid Fulton, London) pp 21–44
58.
MyrdalG, 1962The Challenge to Affluence (Pantheon Books, New York)
59.
NairnT, 1977The Break-up of Britain (New Left Books, London)
60.
NewbyH, 1987Country Life: A Social History of Rural England (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London)
61.
OppenheimC, 1990, “Poverty: The facts”, Child Poverty Action Group, 1 Bath Street, London EC1V9LB
62.
PorterK, 1989, “Poverty in rural America: A national overview”, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 236 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 2002
63.
PrattA, 1989, “Rurality: Loose talk or social struggle?”, paper presented to the Annual Conference of the Rural Economy and Society Study Group, Bristol; copy available from PrattA, Department of Geography, London School of Economics, London
64.
RodgersHWeiherG, 1989Rural Poverty: Special Causes and Policy Reforms (Greenwood Press, Westport, CT)
65.
RopersR, 1991Persistent Poverty: The American Dream Turned Nightmare (Plenum, New York)
66.
RSSTFPRP, 1993Persistent Poverty in Rural AmericaRural Sociological Society Task Force on Persistent Rural Poverty (Westview Press, Boulder, CO)
67.
RugglesP, 1990Drawing the Line (The Urban Institute Press, Washington, DC)
68.
SandefurG, 1988, “Blacks, Hispanics, American Indians, and poverty—and what worked”, in Quiet Riots Eds HarrisFWilkinsRPantheon Books, New York) pp 151–174
69.
SandefurG, 1989, “American Indian reservations: The first underclass areas?”Focus12(1) 37–41
70.
SawhillI, 1988, “Poverty in the US: Why is it so persistent?”Journal of Economic Literature261073–1119
71.
ShapiroI, 1989, “Laboring for less: Working but poor in rural America”, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 236 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 2002
72.
ShawJ M (Ed.), 1979Rural Deprivation and Planning (Geobooks, Norwich)
73.
ShieldsR (Ed.), 1992Lifestyle Shopping: The Subject of Consumption (Routledge, London)
74.
ShortB (Ed.), 1992The English Rural Community (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge)
75.
ShortJ, 1991Imagined Country: Society, Culture and Environment (Routledge, London)
76.
StarkT, 1992Income and Wealth in the 1980s (Fabian Society, London)
77.
ThriftN, 1979, “Unemployment in the inner city: Urban problem or structural imperative? A review of the British experience”, in Geography and the Urban EnvironmentVolume II Eds HerbertDJohnstonRJohn Wiley, Chichester, Sussex) pp 125–226
78.
ThriftN, 1989, “Images of social change”, in The Changing Social Structure Eds HamnettCMcDowellLSarrePSage, London) pp 12–42
79.
TickamyerADuncanC, 1990, “Poverty and opportunity structure in rural America”Annual Review of Sociology1667–86
80.
TownsendP, 1991, “The poor are poorer”, Statistical Monitoring Unit, Department of Social Policy and Social Planning, University of Bristol, Bristol
81.
WalkerA (Ed.), 1978, “Rural poverty: Poverty, deprivation and planning in rural areas”, Child Poverty Action Group, 1 Bath Street, London EC1V 9LB
82.
WoodwardR, 1992, “Deprivation and marginalisation in rural areas”, WP-1, Rural Lifestyles Project, St David's University College, Lampeter
