Rural Progressivism: Land, Livelihood, and Community Part II
Last week I launched the Blue Jersey series on rural progressivism (here’s Part I), showing how in many of the key races in the upcoming 2018 elections have significant rural regions that represent an opportunity for candidates, and I introduced the concept of rural progressivism particularly as it’s catching fire in certain Oklahoma races. This week I want to dive into the policies and ideas caught up in that rural progressivism and how they overlap with progressivism as traditionally understood, but are drawn deeply from the experience of rural lives — and as such, have more potential to resonate with voters in rural communities.
At the heart of the discussion of rural progressivism is a challenging puzzle, perhaps most famously discussed in What’s the Matter with Kansas? by Thomas Frank. Frank argues that Republicans have adopted a strategy of focusing on social issues, which causes Kansas voters to vote against their economic interest. The book is a flashpoint, of academic discussions about the importance of class in American politics, of conservatives who find the premise condescending, and of liberals who struggle with the premise that economically favorably policies are being rejected in places such as Kansas. In many ways, though written in 2004, the book is even more pertinent now, as the increase of partisanship means that the “us-against-them”ism makes it even harder to reach voters across party lines.
The ideas behind rural progressivism is that there are elements of progressivism that have the potential to deeply resonate in rural communities but need to be built up from the lives and experiences of rural communities. That’s distinct from the idea that a Bernie Sanders-style progressivism as-is can reach rural communities — an effort hampered by the ways liberalism has been politicized, as written about by Frank. Rural progressivism is about forming a progressivism that draws deeply from the rural experience. This video by Family Farm Action lays out the heart of that movement:
At 3:53, a farmer captures the central argument:
There used to be local businesses that were built around receiving the products from the farms. And there were local businesses providing products to the farmers. Those are going away and it just hollows out the rural community.
Read more: http://www.bluejersey.com/2017/12/rural-progressivism-land-livelihood-and-community-part-ii/
