New Problems, Old Resources: Continuity in Southern Culture

• Main Author: Reed, John Shelton
• Format: Publication
• Language: English
• Published: 07.02.1973
• Subjects: Community Characteristics; Cultural Background; Economic Factors; Ethnic Groups; Industrialization; Regional Attitudes; Religious Organizations; Rural Urban Differences; Sociology; United States (South)

The nature and extent of religious belief and practice in the South and the relatively great attachment Southerners show to their local communities were described in this paper on Southern culture. Differences in church attendance for the South and non-South were tabulated for various occupations. The general cultural tendency of "localism" was supported by survey data to the extent that when asked to name the person they most admire, Southerners were twice as likely as other Americans to name a relative or someone living in their local community; Southerners were more likely than any other Americans to want their sons to go to college within their own region; and Southerners consistently chose their present state of residence when asked where they would most like to live. It was found that, despite changes in the "technological order" of the South, there was considerable continuity in the "humanistic order." (PS)