The 17 articles in this volume are designed to shed light on what farmers are experiencing during the current farm crisis and why. They also examine what current agricultural change means for rural life and rural communities, and what southern farming may be like in the foreseeable future. The articles represent contemporary research and…

Based on the rural life experiences of Iowa children who grew up during the great farm crisis of the 1980s, this book focuses on successful adolescent development and its links to the social resources of families with ties to the land. In 1989, the Iowa Youth and Families Project began a panel study of 451 two-parent families in north central…

This book consists of 17 essays about living with the land and the importance of reinvigorating the values of rural life. The essays include personal reflections about growing up in rural Minnesota and opinions about the state of neglected rural towns and people. The author grew up during the 1950s on an 80-acre farm that his family rented in…

For many years, farmworkers in Zimbabwe have been a marginalized and neglected community. This book describes the lives of hired farmworkers' children in their own words. Over 850 children aged 10-17 were interviewed or wrote essays in English or Shona. Nearly all the children were in elementary school in grades 4-7. Many farm children undergo…

Written in 1939, this book outlines fundamental Catholic principles and policies that address problems associated with the agricultural system and rural living during the early 20th century. The manifesto was derived from Catholic social philosophy and espouses the benefits of an occupation in agriculture, including the development of private…

This book documents the history, successes, and failures of Save the Children's farmworker program in Zimbabwe, 1981-98. The report explores workers' past and present living and working conditions on commercial farms and describes how the program promoted a progression from workers with a migrant mentality to the building of functional…

This book examines the educational history of the Midwest during the late 19th and 20th centuries. Specifically, the book overviews the development of rural education in Wisconsin, Ohio, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Minnesota. Data sources include the reports of state superintendents; Annual Reports of the…

This book focuses on the domestic economy movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which intended to transform agrarian society and improve rural life through the education of rural women. The movement considered women to be partners in business with their farmer husbands and pursued the goal of making rural women more able managers and…