"No Tyson in Tongie!": The Battle to Protect a Rural Way of Life in Kansas*. Issue 1 (10th November 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Nicholls, Walter J.; Menjívar, Cecilia; Alvord, Daniel
• Is Part Of: Sociological forum. Volume 36:Issue 1(2021)
• Page Start: 29
• Page End: 50
• Publication Date: 2020-11-10
• Subjects: mobilization -- networks -- politics -- rural -- rural idyll -- social movements; Sociology -- Periodicals; 301
• DOI: 10.1111/socf.12660
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0884-8971

Abstract

Abstract : Political mobilizations in small towns have come to play a disproportionate role in today's national politics. This article examines the conditions giving rise to small‐town mobilizations through an in‐depth case study of Tonganoxie, Kansas. Residents of this town mounted a massive campaign to block the opening of a Tyson chicken processing plant in 2017. The article draws on interviews, observations, a newspaper claims database, and extractions from the "No Tyson in Tongie" Facebook group page. The article maintains that a racialized cultural framework ("rural idyll") among White middle‐class residents helped them perceive the plant as an existential threat. Social networks, sustained through social media, enabled the same residents to mobilize in a fast and forceful manner. We suggest that in "hybrid" towns (partially rural and suburban), the "rural idyll" is politically decisive. It unites recently settled and established residents in battles to defend a particularly racialized and classed way of life.