Kingston, capital of Jamaica, has been molded by three institutions: colonialism, the sugar plantation, and slavery. It has an enormous marginal population living in permanent poverty and not absorbable into the labor force. This marginality, fundamentally related to dependent capitalism, sustains itself by keeping wages low. (CS)

A healthy economy is the best offense against poverty, but economic growth alone cannot close the wide gap between the poverty rates of minorities and whites. This collection examines the socioeconomic status of racial and ethnic minorities, their experiences with poverty, and the effects of federal social policies toward minority groups from 1787…

Provides a brief history of the impact of urbanization on education, specifically focusing on the relationship between social class and educational policy. Concludes that schools and youth clubs failed to achieve much relief from the pressures and fundamental problems associated with urban poverty. (JDH)

The 20th century has brought many demographic changes to the United States. This booklet briefly relates some of those changes and provides many charts and graphs to illustrate the changes graphically. The century has been one of population growth, but the rate of growth has slowed since the 1950s. The population is mobile, with more than two out…

Lying within the Cumberland Plateau of Appalachia, the Kentucky River Area Development District (KRADD) comprises eight rural Kentucky counties: Breathitt, Knott, Lee, Leslie, Letcher, Owsley, Perry, and Wolfe. This report reviews regional history of economic development and examines socioeconomic indicators, including education, poverty, and the…

Data from 1961, 1971, and 1973 surveys of households and community "knowledgeables" focused on the subjective assesssments of the quality of life (QOL) of residents of Harlan, Perry, Whitley, and Wolfe counties in Eastern Kentucky, and assessed policy implications. Overall, residents assessed their counties favorably. They rated wages…

In 1974 the Rural Sociological Society commissioned a survey on changes that were occuring in different segments of rural society in the United States; information from that survey is presented in the volume of readings. Using an ecological perspective as the analytic framework, the readings focus on the adaption of humans to their environment a…