
Contents
Cite
Extract
Operating on the conviction, or at least the hope, that it is better to plead forgiveness than ask permission, I acknowledge my debt to Jim Bissett and the Bible. The book’s title was inspired by Jim Bissett’s Agrarian Socialism:Marx, Jefferson, and Jesus in the Oklahoma Countryside. I met Dr. Bissett once and complimented him on his excellent book and its winsome title. I remember bragging on the title a lot. I think—but cannot be sure—that I threatened to borrow his exquisite and apt phrasing. The title of this book proves my guilt.
The second acknowledgment and apology concern the first part of the title. Goshen was the best of the land of Egypt, and the initial terms of the sharecropping arrangement that Joseph negotiated turned out to be liberal and profitable. The prospect of occupying the best of the land on terms that promised prosperity (Pharaoh required only a fifth of the crop—“on fifths,” as a Delta cropper might say) must surely have enticed the sustenance-challenged children of Israel. Any extension of the theological and anthropological implications of the biblical Goshen violates the boundary between employing an analogy and torturing it. Goshen remains a bare analogy, and I claim no thaumaturgic properties in its further application to plain folk of the Great Depression South. The hope, among the most distressed of the Great Depression, of inclusion in one of three “American Goshens” must have engendered feelings at least in some ways akin to those of the Hebrew children as they viewed Goshen for the first time.
Sign in
Personal account
- Sign in with email/username & password
- Get email alerts
- Save searches
- Purchase content
- Activate your purchase/trial code
- Add your ORCID iD
Purchase
Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.
Purchasing informationMonth: | Total Views: |
---|---|
November 2023 | 1 |
August 2024 | 1 |
Get help with access
Institutional access
Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:
IP based access
Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.
Sign in through your institution
Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.
If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.
Sign in with a library card
Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.
Society Members
Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:
Sign in through society site
Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:
If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.
Sign in using a personal account
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.
Personal account
A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.
Viewing your signed in accounts
Click the account icon in the top right to:
Signed in but can't access content
Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.
Institutional account management
For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.