Back

ICFRC: Hollowing Out the Middle: Chinese and American Rural Depopulation

Listen to an audio podcast of this program.

Rubie Watson is a social anthropologist, now retired. She received her Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and has taught at the University of Pittsburgh and Harvard University. She is author of "Inequality among Brothers: Class and Kinship in South China" and has co-authored and edited books on Chinese society and culture. Rubie is the former Director of Harvard University's Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology. Currently, she is writing a book tentatively entitled "The Closers: Institutional Collapse in the Rural Midwest." She grew up on a small Illinois farm and now lives in Iowa City and rural Illinois.

The U.S., China, and many other countries are experiencing significant rural depopulation. Recent changes in demographic trends will be discussed as well as consequences of depopulation on rural society and culture.

For more information on the Foreign Relations Council visit icfrc.org.

Related Programs

thumbnail of video

ICFRC: Working with Refugees and Displaced Persons: The International Rescue Committee in Iowa
Recorded: March 8, 2024
Runtime: 00:55:51

thumbnail of video

ICFRC: Russia and Ukraine - Entangled Histories, Diverging States
Recorded: February 21, 2024
Runtime: 01:09:05

thumbnail of video

ICFRC: In Pursuit of Food Justice, Globally and Locally
Recorded: February 7, 2024
Runtime: 00:58:03

thumbnail of video

ICFRC: Working with Refugees and Displaced Persons: The International Rescue Committee in Iowa
Recorded: January 23, 2024
Runtime: 01:05:12

thumbnail of video

ICFRC: Digital Democracy and Youth Empowerment
Recorded: November 30, 2023
Runtime: 00:46:54

thumbnail of video

ICFRC: Latinos in Iowa: Planting Seeds of Prosperity, Power and Progress
Recorded: November 15, 2023
Runtime: 01:32:33

thumbnail of video

ICFRC: Climate Security as National Security - Climate Change and the Hawkeye State
Recorded: November 14, 2023
Runtime: 01:01:11

thumbnail of video

ICFRC: Surviving a Dictator, A Dictator Surviving
Recorded: November 8, 2023
Runtime: 01:05:43

thumbnail of video

ICFRC: Border Imperialism: Control of Land and Bodies Through Colonial Violence
Recorded: November 2, 2023
Runtime: 01:00:51