Against All Odds

The authors' model orients this community in the vortex of contemporary forces, pointing up, for example, the need for face-to-face interaction among residents versus the larger society's demand for electronic communication. With increasing conflicts between the culture of rural communities and that of the  outside world" occurring, small towns all over the United States are losing their businesses, their doctors, and their sense of community. Yet the town described in this study is thriving. Against All Odds  identifies pride, determination, and a sense of belonging that must be nurtured,and the local organization that binds all of these factors together,in order to keep a small town alive in the face of powerful disruptive forces. Not since Vidich and Bensman's landmark  Small Town in Mass Society  has such a thoughful examination of a contemporary rural community been available.

John C Allen

Preface -- Confronting the Inevitable -- Locating Bremer: Influences of Space and Time -- Gaining Perspective: A Framework for Analysis -- Agriculture: Reconciliation of Making a Living, Government, and a Way of Life -- Bremer's Other Businesses: Each in Its Proper Place -- More Important than Government: The Community Club -- Gender: Women's Roles Have Changed, Most Men's Haven't -- Medical Care: Fulfilling the Old Doctor's Account and Getting a Replacement -- Education in Bremer: No Dropouts and a Winning Sports Program -- Religion: A Tradition Bypassed? -- Class and Social Life -- Community Expression and Renewal: The Bremer Fair and Stock Show -- Community in Bremer . . . and the United States -- Appendix Origins of This Study and the Research Methods