{"product_id":"9798216437451","title":"Smalltown Urban Performing the City in Rural America","description":"\u003ch1\u003eSmalltown Urban\u003c\/h1\u003e\u003ch2\u003ePerforming the City in Rural America\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003ch3\u003eMichael O. Johnston\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003eSocial Science \/ Sociology \/ General\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBoldly reframes the small town as a site of urbanity produced through civic celebrations, festivals, and parades in collective expressions of memory, ritual, and emotional energy\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRather than frame rural towns as in decline or frozen in nostalgia, \u003ci\u003eSmalltown Urban: Performing the City in Rural America\u003c\/i\u003e draws on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Oskaloosa and Pella, Iowa to argue that urbanity is not solely a demographic or environmental condition of large metropolitan centers. Instead, urbanity emerges as a rhythmic, performative, and cultural accomplishment produced through collective participation, volunteer labor, and tourism.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJohnston shows how ordinary rural spaces periodically become sites of heightened social interaction, symbolic spectacle, and shared attention. He takes the reader to Tulip Time, Sweet Corn Serenade, BBQ 4 Badges, Lake Red Rock BalloonFest, and others. The events, he argues, create collective effervescence, strengthen civic engagement, and challenge conventional distinctions between rural and urban life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThrough these symbolic arenas, communities undergo the crucial work to assert their relevance, build continuity, and negotiate their public identities. In a political moment shaped by polarized perceptions of rural America, this book offers you an empirically rich, theoretically grounded, and emotionally resonant account of the performative vitality that shapes small towns.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eMichael O. Johnston is Associate Professor of Sociology at William Penn University. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eFloatzilla: The Social Construction of a Cultural Spectacle\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eCommunity Media Representations of Place and Identity at Tug Fest\u003c\/i\u003e. He also hosts the New Books in Sociology podcast, where he has interviewed nearly one hundred sociologists. His research explores space, ritual, and belonging in small-town America through immersive narrative ethnography.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ctable\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublication Date: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e18 February 2027\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublisher: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eBloomsbury Academic\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eImprint: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eBloomsbury Academic\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eISBN-13: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e9798216437451\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eFormat: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eHardback\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePage Count: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e192\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eWeight (oz): \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e16.0\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Academic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52223162024076,"sku":"9798216437451","price":108.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0710\/9545\/1788\/files\/getimage_75d98eca-7c08-4bfd-8f53-f16a5f673946.jpg?v=1786500585","url":"https:\/\/fh90cf-fv.myshopify.com\/products\/9798216437451","provider":"Late Knight Books and Services, LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}