Loka Ashwood
- Assistant Professor of Sociology
- Sociology
- Appalachian Center
- Other Affiliations:
- Auburn University Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology
- Agrarian Studies
- Environmental Justice
- Social Action
- Social Theory
- Rural Politics
- political economy
Ph.D., Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2015
M.Litt., Geography, National University of Ireland, 2009
B.S., Journalism and Political Science, Northwestern University, 2007
Research:
Professor Ashwood studies how the state works, often to the ire of rural people. Her book, For-Profit Democracy: Why the Government is Losing the Trust of Rural America (Yale 2018), pinpoints corporate-state land takings as a motivator of rural unrest across racial lines. Her related research pulls apart corporations and property rights to understand environmental injustices. Specifically, she studies eminent domain, corporate landownership, and Right-to-Farm laws. She is especially interested in how social action works, and uses community-based research to find pathways for change not predicated on state support.
Ashwood's work feeds into the One Rural collective at University of Kentucky.
Books:
Bell, M., L. Ashwood, I. Leslie*, L. Hanson Schlachter*. 2020. An Invitation to Environmental Sociology. 6th Edition. Thousand Oaks, California: Pine Forge Press.
Ashwood, L. 2018. For-Profit Democracy: Why the Government is Losing the Trust of Rural America. Yale University Press. Agrarian Studies Series.
- Starred review, Publishers Weekly (June 2018).
- Reviewed by Front Porch Republic (March 2019).
- Coverage on C-Span (October 2018), Against the Grain (April 2019).
- Author meets critics panel, Rural Sociological Society (August 2019).
- Review published in The Journal of Southern History (August 2019); Social Anthropology (August 2019); American Journal of Sociology (October 2019); Two reviews (one comparative and one singular) in Rural Sociology (December 2019).
Bell, M. M. and L. Ashwood. 2016. An Invitation to Environmental Sociology. 5th Edition. Thousand Oaks, California: Pine Forge Press.
Special Issue Editor/Introduction:
Journal of Rural Studies, Special Issue “Rural as a Dimension of Environmental Injustice.” Volume 47 A. Co-editor with Kate MacTavish.
Ashwood, L. and Kate MacTavish. 2016. “Tyranny of the Majority and Rural Environmental Injustice.” Journal of Rural Studies 47(A): 271-277.
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles:
Ashwood, L., J. Canfield*(co-first author), M. Fairbairn, K. De Master. Forthcoming. “What owns the land: the corporate organization of farmland investment.” Journal of Peasant Studies.
Ashwood, L. “‘No matter if you’re a Democrat or a Republican or neither’: Pragmatic Politics in opposition to industrial animal production.” Forthcoming. Journal of Rural Studies.
Fairbairn, M., J. LaChance*, K. De Master, and L. Ashwood. Forthcoming. “In vino veritas, in aqua lucrum: Farmland investment, environmental uncertainty, and groundwater access in California’s Cuyama Valley.” Agriculture and Human Values.
Ashwood, L., D. Diamond, and F. Walker*. 2019. “Property Rights and Rural Justice: A Study of U.S. Right-to-Farm Laws.” Journal of Rural Studies 67: 120-129.
- PlumX Metrics: Top Social Media Article.
- Opinion-Editorial, Environmental Health Network, “Right-to-Farm laws run counter to rural culture and property rights.”
- Coverage in Huffington Post, Pacific Standard Magazine, Pew Charitable Trusts, and others.
Ashwood, L. 2018. "Rural Conservatism or Anarchism? The Pro-State, Stateless and Anti-State Positions.” Rural Sociology 83(4): 717-748.
- Lead Article and Top 20 downloaded articles, 2017-2018
Ashwood, L. and M.M. Bell. 2017. “Affect and Taste: Bourdieu, Traditional Music, and the Performance of Possibilities.” Sociologia Ruralis 57(S1): 622-640.
Ashwood, L., N. Harden, M. M. Bell, and W. Bland. “Linked and Situated: Grounded Knowledge.” 2014. Rural Sociology 79(4): 427-452.
- Rural Sociology 2015 Best Paper Award and Lead Article.
Ashwood, L., D. Diamond, and K. Thu. “Where’s the Farmer? Limiting Liability in Midwest Industrial Hog Production.” 2014. Rural Sociology 79(1): 2-27.
- Lead Article; Covered by The Daily Yonder and the Open Markets Institute’s Food & Power.
- Assistant Professor of Sociology
- Sociology
- Appalachian Center
- Other Affiliations:
- Auburn University Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology
