From Vulnerability to Resiliency: Achieving Sustainable Communities Through Social Science

Presidential address delivered at the annual meeting of the Southern Rural Sociological Association, Corpus Christi, TX, February 7, 201

Lifting Spirits and Changing Lives: Analysis of Outcomes from One Organizations Journey with Community-Based Research

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, local nonprofit service providers in the Gulf Coast region faced numerous challenges responding to people’s immediate and long-term needs. Experiencing increased demand for services, limited resources, and vulnerability to future crises,several organizations commenced systematic planning, capacity development, and evaluation projects to help mitigate the effects of disaster and to promote long-term sustainability at the organizational and community levels. One such organization, Visions of Hope (VOH), Inc., in East Biloxi, Mississippi, participated in a collaborative community-based research (CBR) and evaluation process with a sociology, community development, and public health interdisciplinary team. Combining our academic and practitioner perspectives of this partnership, we describe how our project was developed and implemented. We also discuss the intended and unintended outcomes experienced by VOH, an important agent for social change and improvement of quality of life for vulnerable populations and the communities that organization serves

The Contributions of Dr. William Heffernan and the Missouri School of Agrifood Studies

“The Missouri School” refers to a collection of faculty and students studying agrifood systems who have been connected to the Department of Rural Sociology at the University of Missouri–Columbia. Heavily influenced by the populist pragmatist William “Bill” Heffernan, Missouri School analysts focus their attention on structural arrangements, power relationships, and spaces in which struggle for change might result in alternatives to the prevailing system. This article is an introduction to the special issue of Southern Rural Sociology devoted to research and theorizing done by students and faculty of the Missouri School. It includes an overview of the development of the Missouri School as told by Heffernan himself, followed by a summary of the articles in this issue

Expanding the Marketing Opportunities and Sustainable Production Potential for Minority and Limited-Resource Agricultural Producers in Louisiana and Mississippi

The expansion of sustainable agriculture requires the development of alternative production techniques and marketing strategies. Unfortunately, just as with the dominant agrifood system, minority and limited resource producers are often not incorporated into planning processes. As an attempt to forge an alternative framework, this paper provides findings and recommendations from an exploratory planning project funded by the Southern Region Sustainable Agriculture and Education (SARE) program designed to bring together traditionally-underserved producers, their membership organizations, regional nonprofit organizations and universities, and a variety of customer interests. Participants worked collaboratively to identify opportunities and challenges associated with expanding access to diverse agricultural markets and creating incentives for sustainable production. Findings show a continuing need to access financial capital, land, equipment, education and technical support, and to develop innovative cooperative arrangements and expand opportunities for youth involvement in agriculture. The rural development policy implications of these findings are analyzed

Escaping the Bondage of the Dominant Agrifood System: Community-Based Cooperative Strategies

The “Missouri School” of critical agrifood studies has provided an effective framework for documenting and understanding the structural dimensions of the global agrifood system and locating important nodes of power.This has directed attention toward the negative impacts of industrialization and corporate concentration on agricultural producers, local communities and economies, and the environment. Using these criticalinsights, pressure on the dominant agrifood system by civil society organizations has resulted in important changes to production and marketing strategies and related public policies. We broaden this discussion by using social movement and livelihoods theory to explore the position of limited resource and minority producers in the southern United States. This analysis helps us to identify spaces for local responses in community-based cooperatives and other organizations

Bios of Contributors to this Special Issue

biographies of the contributors to this special issue of Southern Rural Sociology, in alphabetical orde

Community-Based Research: Analysis of Outcomes for Learning and Social Change: An Introduction

Broadly defined, community-based research (CBR) is a process of conducting research that embraces and integrates the participation and local knowledge of people in communities and organizations with the goal of informing efforts to achieve social change. Although several publications on CBR exist, they primarily focus on processes, methods, and tools for developing and implementing CBR projects. This special issue of the Journal of Rural Social Sciences builds from that knowledge base, analyzes the outcomes of real-world CBR projects, and assesses learning outcomes for students, faculty, organizations, and community residents. This introduction to the special issue provides an overview of the academic and practical applications of community-based research that aim to achieve learning outcomes and social change for both university- and community-based partners. It includes a review of theoretical concepts and methodological approaches comprising CBR, followed by a summary of the articles in this issue

The Texture of Local Disaster Response: Service Providers\u27 Views Following Hurricane Katrina

Disasters highlight elements of community vulnerability and resiliency. Effective responses are organized and managed to provide goods and services to survivors while also being supportive of the organizations attempting to meet these needs. Collaboration among local service providers, such as nonprofit, faith-based, and governmental organizations, allows communities to build upon internal and external networks and resources to prepare for and respond to disasters. Using a livelihoods framework, we analyze 139 qualitative field interviews conducted in the Mississippi Gulf Coast and Southeast Louisiana, to learn from the experiences, needs, and recommendations of people working on the front lines of disaster in response to Hurricane Katrina. Narrative information from service providers will help inform sociologists, organizations, and policymakers about the views of practitioners serving as intermediaries between people’s everyday lives and broader structures and processes influenced by crisis events

From Vulnerability to Resiliency: Assessing Impacts and Responses to Disaster

Hurricane Katrina devastated the social, economic, and physical infrastructure of communities along the Gulf Coast, and many organizations responded in a massive effort to meet their needs. Building from a livelihoods theoretical framework emphasizing the vulnerability-resiliency continuum, this research note focuses on informing services provided during post-disaster relief, recovery, and redevelopment. Based on a case study conducted in East Biloxi, Mississippi, we describe a project that included a needs assessment survey and qualitative interviews. Research findings address the expressed needs of community members following the disaster, types of relief and recovery assistance provided to them, and the kinds of social relationships observed between service providers and survivors. We conclude with a discussion of what communities might do to reduce vulnerability and improve resiliency as they redevelop their social infrastructure

Providing Food Assistance in a Pandemic: Views and Lessons Learned from the Frontlines in Northwest Mississippi

The Center for Population Studies (CPS) at the University of Mississippi (UM) has partnered with the Maddox Foundation (Hernando, MS) and the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi (CFNM) to explore changes in communities across an 11-county region as a way to identify funding priorities designed to address challenges and build upon assets in the region. With a grant from the Maddox Foundation, the CFNM launched FEED Northwest Mississippi to provide emergency funding for area food pantries, especially ones located in rural areas (CFNM 2020). This initiative has now expanded with a host of additional contributors to the FEED Fund. Results of research involving the food pantries and similar organizations will inform additional funding priorities of Maddox and the CFNM in response to the impacts of COVID-19 on individuals, families, and their communities