The De Gruyter Series in American Political Geography
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Edited by:
Nicholas F. Jacobs
Author / Editor information
The upper South – starting in the Appalachian Mountains and stretching west across the Ohio and Tennessee River Valleys and into Arkansas – has its own culture and history distinct from the Deep South. It also has its own distinct political realignment that has pushed the region toward the right starting in the mid-1990s.
The region is defined by concentrations of unhyphenated Americans – whites who trace their ethnicity not to the European country of their ancestors, but directly to the United States. Examining counties with concentrations of these American ethnic identifiers, the book uses election data to show the region’s rapid shift to the Republicans. Public opinion data shows the region was pushed to the Republicans by its conservatism on issues such as abortion, guns, and the environment, and the increased national salience of racial issues prompted by the emergence of Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
Rural communities in the United States have become a distinctive political concern. In this interdisciplinary volume, Nicholas Jacobs brings together a collection of leading experts in rural studies to offer a comprehensive framework for understanding rural America and expand the scope of existing research.
With data-driven analysis, this volume challenges rural-urban binaries by highlighting difference and evolution among rural people, challenging stereotypical narratives about rural decline and political extremism. By illuminating specific aspects of rural life and place-based experience, cutting-edge contributions consider the intersecting influences of social identity, economics, policy change, and media representation on rural life.
