Placing community through actor-network theory in Oklahoma's ‘No Man's Land’

Abstract

Residents in sparsely populated Cimarron County, located at the end of Oklahoma's Panhandle in ‘No Man's Land,’ possess a strong sense of independence, yet also a strong sense of community. Building upon community research and applying an actor-network approach, we argue that the ‘materiality’ of meanings associated with and attachment to the cultural landscape play a significant role in how and why people construct community here. We assert that threats to a loss of a way of life and loss of life are corollaries to finite existence, which together impel residents to rely on community in order to cope with living in ‘No Man's Land’. Using oral histories, semi-structured interviews, and participant observation, we show that community is embedded in the cultural landscape in specific ways and practiced, sometimes simultaneously, as both a unified collective body and a group of interconnected individuals.