Taking Communities into the Groan Zone: Subjective Wellbeing in the Face of Demographic Change, Racial Diversity, and Political Difference☆

Abstract

This paper draws from a dataset focusing on two rural communities in Colorado (USA). Data collection occurred over two periods: late-2019 and again during COVID-19 lockdowns in mid-2020. The communities differed demographically: one had a growing minoritized population, especially among its youth; the other was overwhelmingly white. The paper troubles the concept of subjective wellbeing (SWB) as it asks about the productive potentials of discomfort, with assistance from such concepts as colorblind ideology, motivated reasoning, and network homophily. While important to think about so-called positive emotional states in the context of community development, we must also ask questions like, “SWB for who and at whose expense?” How respondents thought about individual- and community-level SWB had much to do with the social networks they were in. I also explore why the community that fared pandemic-related disruptions, from a SWB standpoint, better than the other performed worse during this same period from an economic (material) standpoint. Sociological factors explain these dynamics, which are leveraged to enhance our understanding of how to conceptualize community development in productive ways. In sum, I argue that certain expressions of discomfort have value and are therefore necessary for creating resilient, flourishing, and, ultimately, just communities.