Jennifer Sherman, Department of Sociology, Washington State University
This project is an extension of previous work, which focused on a remote logging community in Northern California that had lost most of its forest industry jobs, leaving people with very few economic options. My current research focuses on a rural Washington community that would be similar, were it not for its outdoor amenities and a highway that connects it to the West side of the state. Rather than experiencing economic collapse as the timber, ranching, and agriculture industries declined in this region, it became a popular vacation destination for wealthy urbanites. Many purchased second homes in the area, where now about 50% of all homes are not primary residences. Others moved there for quality of life reasons, often with one worker still commuting to the West side. This had multiple repercussions for the community, including new businesses that cater to tourists and wealthy in-migrants with specialized tastes in food and art, but also a social system divided by culture and education, as well as crippling economic inequality caused by skyrocketing housing prices and a lack of stable, year-round jobs for those without advanced education and skills.
I am spending a year doing extended ethnographic research that is in dialogue with my 2009 book. This includes conducting in-depth interviews here, volunteering regularly at multiple institutions, and extensive ethnographic observations, I hope to understand the community’s dynamics and particularly the struggles faced by those at the bottom of its social and economic ladder.
For more information, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/RuralWACTCF
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