Reverse Migration - Sorensen
Reverse Migration - Sorensen
Reverse Migration - Sorensen
The thesis of the paper is that the more pro- likely to emerge as people from diverse social and
found impacts of the recent population turnaround cultural backgrounds and experiences find them-
center on the qualitative aspects of community in selves together in limited geographical space. The
rural America. That is, the nature of community challenge to the social scientist and the community
life will be determined by the relationships that development practitioner is to seek understanding
evolve through newcomer and oldtimer interaction of the phenomena and to facilitate the processes
in providing needed goods and services. Inherent in whereby community integration occurs at the level
the movement of people to the countryside is the desired by community people.
potential for a wide range of human interaction The paper begins with a brief summary of the
relationships. As newcomers arrive in the rural population turnaround trend. Next is a statement
community, they may choose isolation from of the fundamental community development prob-
others except for the social contact necessary to lem, as I see it, and an explanation for the loss of
meet their personal needs for exchange of goods community level control. The last part of the
and services. Alternatively, newcomers may find paper examines possible relationships likely to
oldtimers isolated from each other, as farmers have emerge from the arrival of newcomers and suggests
little contact with general townspeople who, in ways whereby a sense of community can be built
turn,have little contact with the professional group incorporating both the indigenous population and
in the community. Should newcomer and oldtimer the newcomers. The conclusions contain implica-
interaction become more intense, the potential tions for the researcher and extension professional
exists for creation of a hostile encounter in which for initiating functional leadership in community
conflict, self-interest and competitive use of power development work.
dominate. Alternatively, the potential exists for a
mutually enhancing experience in which people
share meanings, thereby developing trust and com- The Return to the Country
mitment to the community as the basis for action in
meeting individual and collective needs. Currently, From before the turn of the century until the
we can only speculate on the range of relationships 1970 census of population, demographers docu-
mented the continuing migration of U.S. citizens
Donald M. Sorensen is acting assistant director of the from the countryside to our urbanizing centers.
Western Rural Development Center and associate professor
of economics and Extension specialist at Colorado State Although arrested temporarily during the Great
University, Fort Collins. Depression of the 1930's, the rural to urban move-
The author wishes to express appreciation for helpful ment gained momentum in the 1940's as social,
critiques of this paper by Jerry A. Moles, Department of
Anthropology, University of California, Davis, on leave economic, and technological change accelerated.
at the Western Rural Development Center; Howard These changes were led by the mechanization of
Tankersley, Extension Service-USDA; Joe Stevens, Depart- basic rural industries, mobilization for national
ment of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Oregon
State University; and L. M. Hartman, Department of defense, and growing concentration of manufac-
Economics, Colorado State University. Nevertheless, the turing and related service industries. These forces
paper remains the responsibility of the author. interacted dynamically to fill the path to the city
Development of this paper was supported by regional
Title V funds of the Rural Development Act (92-419) and with people seeking a better life than that afforded
CSRS Grant No. 616-15-58. them in a decaying rural economy. So pervasive
49
June 1977 Western J. Agr. Econ.
had become the trend that Presidents Johnson and these are important concerns, formulation of the
Nixon established blue ribbon task forces and com- problem in this manner is inadequate. It is inade-
missions to study the phenomena of rural decline quate since it is based on the assumption that the
and to propose policy alternatives for revitalizing problem already has been defined-thus, the
rural America. Little more than political lip service fundamental community development problem is
to rural America's needs accompanied their reports overlooked.
and similar official proclamations, memoranda, What, then, is the fundamental community
and legislative proposals. development problem? I prefer to conceptualize
Despite the absence of effective public policy the problem as the need for developing a sense of
for encouraging resettlement of rural areas, we community which enables people to determine
appear to be experiencing a dramatic reversal of individual and collective need priorities and to
the rural to urban population flow. This reversal take democratic social action in addressing their
documented for the 1970-73 period is the result needs. Communication or shared meanings in face
of innumerable personal decisions, both private to face interaction is the foundation upon which
and commercial in nature [Beale, 1975]. community is built. When people are sharing
Demographers and other social scientists are meanings, they are experiencing development of
suggesting a number of explanations for the deci- their shared values, which leads to trust and com-
sion of individuals to relocate in rural com- mitment. When these qualities of community
munities. Among more generally offered explana- exist, people in face to face interaction are more
tions are: 1) the development of rural recreational able to articulate "real" community needs and
and retirement communities, 2) the exploitation structure action to respond effectively. Thus, I
of energy resources, 3) the growth of state and see the current limited effectiveness of people in
community colleges, 4) the decentralization of communicating or sharing meanings as contribut-
manufacturing activity, and 5) the search for ing to uncertainty regarding what it is the com-
alternative life-styles resulting from an apparent munity feels it needs and to the inability to take
shift in values and in attitudes regarding the place action to meet its basic needs for goods and
where people want to live. Although these general- services. So long as this communicative
ities appear to afford some plausible gross inadequacy persists, community problems and
explanations, we still lack understanding of the action will be associated only with special
decision-making process and factors entering interest and politically powerful groups, often to
into that process which lead people to choose to the detriment of other interests or members of
live in rural America. Regardless of the reason, the community. The current unrest and conflict in
newcomers and oldtimers are confronting the need communities where competitive forces have dis-
to adapt to each other and to a changing rural placed cooperative forces as the predominant
community situation. This means that new basis for social action reflects an evolving im-
relationships must be worked out in how com- balance in these forces that direct human be-
munity needs and priorities are determined and in havior. Development is thus a product of conflict
how action is taken to meet them. between opposing forces. Those forces most able
to garner support from vertical structures outside
the community will win. The losers are alienated.
The Community Development Problem The streets may be improved, but sense of com-
munity is lost.
All too many public policy makers, community Being unable to take action in meeting their
development practitioners, and social scientists needs means that people do not have the oppor-
tend to view the community development problem tunity to realize their human purposes and mean-
associated with the population turnaround in ings; they are not part of the community. Develop-
terms of immediate impact on demand for public ing community means that communication or
services. The problem, therefore, is defined as shared meanings must be established as a basis for
demand for street, sewer, and water systems; exercising democratic social action. Organizational
for health, education, and welfare programs; or structural response growing out of shared mean-
and for fiscal resources to pay the bill. Although ings meets people's needs in the fullest sense. That
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Sorensen Reverse Migration and Development
is, people develop their own self-awareness and The Erosion of Community Level Control
realize their human potential when they are
effectively sharing meanings as a basis for taking Accompanying the breakdown of communica-
individual and social action. Development of tion or shared meanings in American community
community is something that may or may not life has been the growth of centralizing tendencies
be spontaneous, but it can be nurtured through in both the private and public spheres. Through
selfconscious leadership. Hopefully, the social time, decision-making has been evolving to higher
scientist and community development practitioner and higher levels of concentration with control
will develop the consciousness to initiate this kind being put in the hands of a few powerful people.
of functional and integrative leadership. Concurrently, there has been a reduction of in-
The need to (re) establish communication is fluence in decision-making at the local community
particularly acute in rural communities exper- level. A brief historical review may provide some
iencing rapid population growth. Newcomers perspective on the process through which indivi-
pose a threat to the traditional social structure dual and local community organizations have been
supported by the indigenous population of the losing control over the organizational mechanisms
receiving community. The indigenous population which are designed to provide them needed goods
often has a fairly strong sense of community and services.
identify and has, over the years, developed social First, it would be extremely naive to assume
structure to support it. Newcomers and old- that individuals and community organizations
timers alike will be affected by the need for a ever exercised complete autonomy in decision-
new structure based on a newly emerging rela- making or that they ever experienced immunity
tionship. If newcomers are unable or unwilling from external economic, social, and cultural
to relate effectively to oldtimers, they will find influence. Further, it would be unrealistic to
themselves participants in creating a social envir- believe these outside influences will cease to impact
onment similar to that which many of them significantly upon the decisions and actions taken
moved to escape. Therefore, the basis for having by people in local community settings. It is not
made the move is eroded as feelings of suspicion, unrealistic, however, to believe that local people
distrust, misunderstanding, and non-acceptance could gain greater control over their life circum-
pervade the social environment. If the indige- stances if they were provided help.
In the early days of the Republic, when sophisti-
nous population is unable or unwilling to relate
cated transportation and communications systems
effectively with the newcomers, they will force
were non-existent, there was considerably more
their new neighbors to seek support for their
self-sufficiency exercised in conducting individual
needs outside the community, thus eroding com- and community economic and political affairs than
munity viability-the ability of a community exists today. Economic, social, and political
to define and solve its own problems. Such fail- organizations were small in scale with control
ure will result in major restructuring of the social primarily community based. Thus, decision-
system with most major decisions made outside making tended to be at the local level. Local
the local community. business enterprises grew out of recognized local
While it is acknowledged that some migrants may business opportunities. Local public service
be seeking non-involvement through their move to organizations emerged in response to locally
the country, simply being there creates some need determined needs for collective goods and services.
for human interaction with others of the com- Max Weber set forth his concept on this phenom-
enon in his Theory of Social and Economic
munity. Some basic level of shared meanings must
Organization, Weber observed that organizational
exist in order to determine individual and collective and institutional order develops out of common
action. Individual or collective needs cannot be agreement upon desired ends and the means for
worked out in a social vacuum-there must be realizing those ends. In other words, the structure
human interaction. It is not a matter of quantity, grows out of needs that are agreed upon by the
but the quality, of the social interaction that is residents of the community (or the state, nation,
important. or private industry).
51
June 1977 Western J. Agr. Econ.
Through time, however, dynamic forces of munity ends are going to be. Herein lies the
change have interacted to shift the locus of control problem associated with centralization of control.
of both private and public affairs to higher levels Outside bureaucracies with local functionaries are
of concentration. This means that decision-making now exercising the functional action prerogatives,
and planning prerogatives are exercised by elite formerly the prerogative of local community resi-
groups at state, regional, and national levels. As dents. This structural phenomenon is legitimated
these decisions from the top are carried into action, by a dominant framework of meaning focused on
the community has little autonomy except to rationality, efficiency, and utilitarian ends. This
make some local adaptations. Thus, local people framework of meaning is internal to the evolving
and organizations have been losing their ability to organizational structure and does not grow out of
influence decisions and public policy impacting a shared relationship with organizational clientele.
upon the community. Consequently, community people, unable to ex-
Roland Warren's central thesis in his book, The plore and express a sense of shared meaning with
Community in America, is that American com- each other and with local bureaucratic represen-
munities are undergoing a dramatic transformation tatives, become alienated from the organizations
of their entire structure and function: ".. . this designed to provide for their needs. Hence, if com-
'great change' in community living includes the in- munity people fail to share meanings and to remain
creasing orientation of local community units to- in touch with formal organizations impacting upon
ward extra-community systems of which they are their life circumstances, they cannot develop a
a part, with a decline in community cohesion and sense of freedom in their life experiences or have
autonomy" [Warren, p. 53]. Warren's analysis of the autonomy to act.
important dimensions of community life can be It is only through the sharing of feelings and
best summarized in his own words: taking of action to provide for their own needs that
In the first place, they signalize the increasing people realize their human purposes and meanings.
and strengthening of the external ties which bind It is in the taking of action that people develop a
the local community to the larger society. In the sense of consciousness that gives meaning to their
process, various parts of the community-its educa-
tional system, its recreation, its economic units, life experiences. The kinds of needs provided in
its governmental functions, its religious units, its community, which represents the level of need
health and welfare agencies, and its voluntary asso- above family, are integral to individual conscious-
ciations-have become increasingly oriented toward
district, state, regional, or national offices and less ness and development of a sense of meaning. Thus,
and less oriented toward each other. to maintain and further community integrity means
-. In the second place, as local community units
that each new generation must provide for its own
have become more closely tied in with state and
national systems, much of the decision-making pre- needs and, through collective action, realize its own
rogative concerning the structure and function of human purposes and meanings. If action is con-
these units has been transferred to the headquarters trolled from the outside, which means that ends or
or district offices of the systems themselves, thus,
leaving a narrower and narrower scope of functions meanings are imposed, then individuals lose their
over which local units, responsible to the local com- autonomy, as the structures no longer adequately
munity, exercise autonomous power. [Warren, p.5 ]. serve community needs. I am saying that the indi-
Warren's concept of increasing vertical integra- vidual must control his circumstances in order to
tion means that complex bureaucratic structures structure his action, thus realizing his own purposes
exercise increasingly greater control over lives of and meanings. In the societal concept, this notion
people and their organizations at the local level. is consistent with concepts of democracy and
These bureaucratic organizations have a number of freedom. Given that vertical structure grows out of
distinguishing characteristics, including specializa- community, it is not inevitable that the structure
tion of roles and tasks; the prevalence of autono- would have to take over in the sense that internal
mous, rational, and non-personal organizational criteria dictate its action. Rather, the vertical
rules; and the general orientation to rational, effi- structure, by staying somewhat open, could serve
cient implementation of specific goals to meet local people by helping them work out problems
needs of the organization. Thus, bureaucracy, and find solutions in ways which allow the com-
private or public, is means oriented and cannot munity to maintain its own integrity. The basic
address itself to determine what human and com- question is whether structures exist to meet com-
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Sorensen Reverse Migration and Development
munity needs or whether communities exist to Where there is "gemeinshaft," there is caring and
support structures. where there is caring, there is mutual respect for
In sum, the loss of sense of community and the individual human dignity and where there is
growing centralization of decision-making com- individual human dignity, there is belonging and
pounds the problems associated with newcomers freedom of choice. Horizontal integration of
and oldtimers adapting to each other in rural community can provide direction for action,
community settings. and the community can then utilize resources of
the vertical structure to further ends identified
through mutual exploration and exercise of
The Arrival of Newcomers choice. Rather than serving only limited self-
interests, resources of bureaucracies could be
The arrival of newcomers in rural communities utilized for integrative purposes. Two notions
affords the possibility of furthering the disinte- predict such outcomes. First, local people are
grative forces or strengthening the integrative forces responsibly and meaningfully involved in the
in American community life. The outcome depends provision of their needed goods and services,
upon the nature of the relationship that evolves hence giving their lives a sense of purpose.
between newcomers and oldtimers and the degree Second, all bureaucracies strive for at least the
to which each is committed to purely limited appearance of service to the community. When
self-interest objectives. For example, some old- the community can demonstrate that it knows
timers represented by the Chamber of Commerce what services it needs, the bureaucracy is hard
perspective may be linked up with outside organi- pressed to provide it.
zations working to further economic development Obviously, this latter outcome is not automatic,
of the local community, while a group of new- due to the prevalence of the previously described
comers (wanting to be the last immigrants to the loss of community and centralization of control
area) may be working with various outside environ- in contemporary society. The latter outcome
mental lobby groups to limit community growth. requires imaginative leadership-that kind the
Thus, pursuit of self-interest, reinforced by bureau- university potentially could initiate if it would
cratic organizations with power to affect com- commit itself to developing an understanding
munity action, may lead to a circling of the wagons of community development processes and to
around the respective narrow self-interest camps. cultivating the notion that people have creative
In this environment, conflict, distrust, and further potential for improving their life circumstances if
fragmentation occurs. This means that power functional leadership is available. Thus, the uni-
becomes the dominant basis for action, usually versity and its professional staff must reexamine
without concern for others in the community their criteria for action and must determine which
who may be adversely affected by action taken outcome they wish to foster. If they wish to serve
by the powerful group. In fact, each group may the community, they must be more open to the
be firmly convinced that its actions are in the needs of community people in determining com-
best interests of everyone. munity action as opposed to only looking toward
On the other hand, the arrival of newcomers internal organizational prerogatives for deter-
could provide the catalytic element for the mining what to do.
revitalization of a sense of community in rural
America. If newcomers approach the community
with a sense of openness, and oldtimers demon- The Building of Community
strate reciprocal feelings, there exists an oppor-
tunity for mutually exploring their feelings as a As stated above, communication or shared
basis for identifying community needs and meanings provide a sense of community charac-
structuring a course of action for addressing terized by caring, trust, and commitment. Thus,
these needs. If both are open to sharing the building of community in America implies
meanings, trust and commitment will become a that individuals are experiencing the renewal and
bond that means the discovery of the "gemein- growth of two vital societal resources: a sense of
shaft" or the glue that holds community together. value and individual identity. Since it is within the
53
June 1977 Western J. Agr. Econ.
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Sorensen Reverse Migration and Development
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