Who Gets to Go Back-to-the-Land?

"In her careful and rigorous study, which spans nearly a century, Padilla Carroll balances the central location of whiteness and patriarchy in representations of back-to-the-land communities as they travel through print culture with the stories of women, people of color, and Indigenous peoples who, despite their omission, nonetheless formed critical relationships with land within and outside of self-sufficiency literature."—Katelyn Campbell, H-Environment

"Padilla Carroll reveals a multiplicity of back-to-the-land narratives that illuminate how diverse Americans have imagined their place in response to urbanization, environmental degradation, and social exclusion."—Andrew J. Milson, Journal of Popular Culture

“Padilla Carroll makes the past directly relevant to today’s context and global issues. Unlike previous scholars she includes people who have been excluded from the narratives, especially Americans of color but also queer Americans, who have created resistant narratives. Padilla Carroll presents a seamless exposition with well-chosen sources for analysis.”—Clark A. Pomerleau, author of Califia Women: Feminist Education against Sexism, Classism, and Racism

“Padilla Carroll recovers key historical texts and authors from the back-to-the-land movement and shapes the current, contemporary canon by looking at the established print and new publication outlets. Rather than emphasize the emergence of a critical mass within popular culture, the author turns to the margins to recover the nondominant voices of the movement. Padilla Carroll offers sharp, compelling close reading analysis, deftly unpacking the quotations used as examples.”—Kristin J. Jacobson, author of The American Adrenaline Narrative