A GEOGRAPHY OF POWER: RURAL PERSPECTIVES OF POLITICAL INEQUALITY

Abstract: The globalization, advanced media technology and increased mobility of modern life has not erased the importance of place for politics. How does place matter for the way people make sense of political affairs? This study examines the use of place, particularly the rural vs. urban divide, among rural residents. It does so through a conception of public opinion as perceptions that are formulated in the midst of interpersonal interaction. It uses observation of multiple conversations among 36 groups in 27 communities sampled across a Midwestern state. The analyses reveal that rural residents imbue the urban/rural divide with perceptions of who has decision-making power, who has values consistent with their own, and who has resources. The anti-urban perspectives the paper reveals are not simply reducible to racism or partisanship. The importance of the rural/urban lens for rural residents suggests that place is a powerful identity on which political mobilization can occur