My scholarly work in public philosophy is primarily focused on re-centering marginalized rural perspectives (i.e. feminine, queer, racialized, indigenous, disabled, etc.) in order to equitably imagine a sustainable future for rural America.

My philosophical dissertation argues that these folks, being the most directly impacted by extremist-bigotry, environmental degradation, and the complex features of rural poverty, have the most insight into the relationship between poverty and extremism, and what socio-economic resources would be most helpful to healing the political social fabric. By watching the transformation of rural misogyny into extremism, and walking on egg-shells around patriarchal rage and resentment, the most marginalized rural folks develop a sensitivity to what motivates extremism, and thus, are in the best epistemic position to think about what would be the most effective paths to de-radicalization. Their unique experiences of human trafficking, violence against women and queer folks, raising heroin babies in food deserts with housing precarity, manipulation within dysfunctional relationships, and place-based alienation within the dual realities of fossil-fuel degradation and ongoing exploitation and classism within “green” and “social justice movements” put them in the best position to determine what constitutes genuine climate justice for rural people. Their experiences of a deep intimacy with the land, love and service to their communities, and fraught sense of belonging to a place to which their identity is fundamentally intertwined, may also reveal new opportunities for imagining alternative habits of care and sustainability. In this dissertation, I develop the conceptual tools to talk about the complexities of rural oppression and possible liberatory resources for recovering rural futurity.

Following the dissertation, I plan to apply these conceptual tools in an extended, community-based participatory action project, returning to the region where I grew up and spending time with the folks whose perspectives could help us develop equitable, concrete solutions to rural oppression. I will bridge interdisciplinary tools including phenomenological and ethnographic analysis to analyze and translate their testimonies to stakeholders like non-profits and policy makers who have the resources to develop solutions on particular issues ranging from food and climate justice to emotional healing.

Currently, I am serving as a delegate to COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, where I hope to attend meetings with representatives of rural and indigenous communities sharing their perspectives on imagining rural climate justice, and think about how we can lift these voices to more mainstream political discourse, as well as make the existing platforms like COP29 more accessible to the most marginalized rural people. What is the relationship of these meeting spaces to the experiences and needs of everyday rural people? What could it be?