Q&A: Sociologist Mil Duncan on the Plight of “Transitioning” Rural Communities

Mil likes to say that poverty is poverty, wherever you are. Being poor creates similar, predictable struggles whether the backdrop is a quiet mountain hamlet or a teeming metropolis. But she’s dedicated her career to teasing out the particularities of rural poverty, and expanding the conversation around who’s poor in the United States, and why.

Enjoy our conversation about her path into rural scholarship, the plight of the “transitioning” rural community, and the relationship between inequality and civic culture.

by Olivia Weeks