Fighting Back In Appalachia

Author : Dwight B. Billings,Gurney Norman,Katherine Ledford
Publisher : University Press of Kentucky
Page : 368 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2013-07-24
Category : History
ISBN : 9780813143347

Get Book

Back Talk from Appalachia by Dwight B. Billings,Gurney Norman,Katherine Ledford Pdf

Appalachia has long been stereotyped as a region of feuds, moonshine stills, mine wars, environmental destruction, joblessness, and hopelessness. Robert Schenkkan's 1992 Pulitzer-Prize winning play The Kentucky Cycle once again adopted these stereotypes, recasting the American myth as a story of repeated failure and poverty--the failure of the American spirit and the poverty of the American soul. Dismayed by national critics' lack of attention to the negative depictions of mountain people in the play, a group of Appalachian scholars rallied against the stereotypical representations of the region's people. In Back Talk from Appalachia, these writers talk back to the American mainstream, confronting head-on those who view their home region one-dimensionally. The essays, written by historians, literary scholars, sociologists, creative writers, and activists, provide a variety of responses. Some examine the sources of Appalachian mythology in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century literature. Others reveal personal experiences and examples of grassroots activism that confound and contradict accepted images of ""hillbillies."" The volume ends with a series of critiques aimed directly at The Kentucky Cycle and similar contemporary works that highlight the sociological, political, and cultural assumptions about Appalachia fueling today's false stereotypes.

Author : Stephen Fisher
Publisher : Temple University Press
Page : 379 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 1993-01-21
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780877229773

Get Book

Fighting Back in Appalachia by Stephen Fisher Pdf

Author note: Stephen L. Fisher is Hawthorne Professor of Political Science at Emory and Henry College in Emory, Virginia.

Author : Richard A. Couto,Nancy K. Simpson,Gale Harris
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 362 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 1994
Category : Cancer
ISBN : MINN:31951P00501102V

Get Book

Sowing Seeds in the Mountains by Richard A. Couto,Nancy K. Simpson,Gale Harris Pdf

Author : Rebecca Adkins Fletcher,Rebecca-Eli Long,William Schumann
Publisher : University Press of Kentucky
Page : 255 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2023-03-07
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780813196954

Get Book

Engaging Appalachia by Rebecca Adkins Fletcher,Rebecca-Eli Long,William Schumann Pdf

Inclusive campus-community collaborations provide critical opportunities to build community capacity—defined as a community's ability to jointly respond to challenges and opportunities—and sustainability. Through case studies from across all three subregions of Appalachia from Georgia to Pennsylvania, Engaging Appalachia: A Guidebook for Building Capacity and Sustainability offers diverse perspectives and guidance for promoting social change through campus-community relationships from faculty, community members, and student contributors. This volume explores strategies for creating more inclusive and sustainable partnerships through the arts, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. In representing diverse areas, environments, and issues, three relatable themes emerge within a practice viewpoint that is scalable to communities beyond Appalachia: fostering student leadership, asset-building, and needs fulfillment within community engagement. Engaging Appalachia presents collaborative approaches to regional community engagement and offers important lessons in place-based methods for achieving sustainable and just development. Written with practicality in mind, this guidebook embraces hard-earned experiences from decades of work in Appalachia and sets forth new models for building community resilience in a changing world.

Author : Shannon Elizabeth Bell
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 341 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 2016-03-18
Category : Law
ISBN : 9780262528801

Get Book

Fighting King Coal by Shannon Elizabeth Bell Pdf

An examination of why so few people suffering from environmental hazards and pollution choose to participate in environmental justice movements. In the coal-mining region of Central Appalachia, mountaintop-removal mining and coal-industry-related flooding, water contamination, and illness have led to the emergence of a grassroots, women-driven environmental justice movement. But the number of local activists is small relative to the affected population, and recruiting movement participants from within the region is an ongoing challenge. In Fighting King Coal, Shannon Elizabeth Bell examines an understudied puzzle within social movement theory: why so few of the many people who suffer from industry-produced environmental hazards and pollution rise up to participate in social movements aimed at bringing about social justice and industry accountability. Using the coal-mining region of Central Appalachia as a case study, Bell investigates the challenges of micromobilization through in-depth interviews, participant observation, content analysis, geospatial viewshed analysis, and an eight-month “Photovoice” project—an innovative means of studying, in real time, the social dynamics affecting activist involvement in the region. Although the Photovoice participants took striking photographs and wrote movingly about the environmental destruction caused by coal production, only a few became activists. Bell reveals the importance of local identities to the success or failure of local recruitment efforts in social movement struggles, ultimately arguing that, if the local identities of environmental justice movements are lost, the movements may also lose their power.

Author : Stephen L. Fisher,Barbara Ellen Smith
Publisher : University of Illinois Press
Page : 338 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 2012-03-15
Category : History
ISBN : 9780252093760

Get Book

Transforming Places by Stephen L. Fisher,Barbara Ellen Smith Pdf

In this era of globalization's ruthless deracination, place attachments have become increasingly salient in collective mobilizations across the spectrum of politics. Like place-based activists in other resource-rich yet impoverished regions across the globe, Appalachians are contesting economic injustice, environmental degradation, and the anti-democratic power of elites. This collection of seventeen original essays by scholars and activists from a variety of backgrounds explores this wide range of oppositional politics, querying its successes, limitations, and impacts. The editors' critical introduction and conclusion integrate theories of place and space with analyses of organizations and events discussed by contributors. Transforming Places illuminates widely relevant lessons about building coalitions and movements with sufficient strength to challenge corporate-driven globalization. Contributors are Fran Ansley, Yaira Andrea Arias Soto, Dwight B. Billings, M. Kathryn Brown, Jeannette Butterworth, Paul Castelloe, Aviva Chomsky, Dave Cooper, Walter Davis, Meredith Dean, Elizabeth C. Fine, Jenrose Fitzgerald, Doug Gamble, Nina Gregg, Edna Gulley, Molly Hemstreet, Mary Hufford, Ralph Hutchison, Donna Jones, Ann Kingsolver, Sue Ella Kobak, Jill Kriesky, Michael E. Maloney, Lisa Markowitz, Linda McKinney, Ladelle McWhorter, Marta Maria Miranda, Chad Montrie, Maureen Mullinax, Phillip J. Obermiller, Rebecca O'Doherty, Cassie Robinson Pfleger, Randal Pfleger, Anita Puckett, Katie Richards-Schuster, June Rostan, Rees Shearer, Daniel Swan, Joe Szakos, Betsy Taylor, Thomas E. Wagner, Craig White, and Ryan Wishart.

Author : Clifton D. Bryant,Dennis L. Peck
Publisher : SAGE
Page : 1346 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2007
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781412916080

Get Book

21st Century Sociology: A Reference Handbook by Clifton D. Bryant,Dennis L. Peck Pdf

Publisher Description

Author : Chad Berry,Philip J. Obermiller,Shaunna L. Scott
Publisher : University of Illinois Press
Page : 232 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2015-06-15
Category : Education
ISBN : 9780252097348

Get Book

Studying Appalachian Studies by Chad Berry,Philip J. Obermiller,Shaunna L. Scott Pdf

In this collection, contributors reflect on scholarly, artistic, activist, educational, and practical endeavor known as Appalachian Studies. Following an introduction to the field, the writers discuss how Appalachian Studies illustrates the ways interdisciplinary studies emerge, organize, and institutionalize themselves, and how they engage with intellectual, political, and economic forces both locally and around the world. Essayists argue for Appalachian Studies' integration with kindred fields like African American studies, women's studies, and Southern studies, and they urge those involved in the field to globalize the perspective of Appalachian Studies; to commit to continued applied, participatory action, and community-based research; to embrace more fully the field's capacity for bringing about social justice; to advocate for a more accurate understanding of Appalachia and its people; and to understand and overcome the obstacles interdisciplinary studies face in the social and institutional construction of knowledge. Contributors: Chris Baker, Chad Berry, Donald Edward Davis, Amanda Fickey, Chris Green, Erica Abrams Locklear, Phillip J. Obermiller, Douglas Reichert Powell, Michael Samers, Shaunna L. Scott, and Barbara Ellen Smith.

Author : Susan Emley Keefe
Publisher : Univ. of Tennessee Press
Page : 266 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 2009
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781572336575

Get Book

Participatory Development in Appalachia by Susan Emley Keefe Pdf

Often thought of as impoverished, backward, and victimized, the people of the southern mountains have long been prime candidates for development projects conceptualized and controlled from outside the region. This book, breaking with old stereotypes and the strategies they spawned, proposes an alternative paradigm for development projects in Appalachian communities-one that is far more inclusive and democratic than previous models. Emerging from a critical analysis of the modern development process, the participatory development approach advocated in this book assumes that local culture has value, that local communities have assets, and that local people have the capacity to envision and provide leadership for their own social change. It thus promotes better decision making in Appalachian communities through public participation and civic engagement. Filling a void in current research by detailing useful, hands-on tools and methods employed in a variety of contexts and settings, the book combines relevant case studies of successful participatory projects with practical recommendations from seasoned professionals. Editor Susan E. Keefe has included the perspectives of anthropologists, sociologists, and others who have been engaged, sometimes for decades, in Appalachian communities. These contributors offer hopeful new strategies for dealing with Appalachia's most enduring problems-strategies that will also aid activists and researchers working in other distressed or underserved communities. Susan E. Keefe is professor of anthropology at Appalachian State University. She is the editor of Appalachian Mental Health and Appalachian Cultural Competency: A Guide for Medical, Mental Health, and Social Service Professionals.

Author : Andrew R. H. Thompson
Publisher : University Press of Kentucky
Page : 213 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2015-12-18
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780813166018

Get Book

Sacred Mountains by Andrew R. H. Thompson Pdf

Front cover -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface -- Introduction -- 1 Downstream Impacts -- 2 Environmental Ethics and the Construction of Values -- 3 Relation, Revelation, and Revolution -- PHOTOGRAPHS -- 4 The Meanings of the Mountains -- 5 All My Holy Mountain -- 6 Loving the Mountains -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.

Author : Jeff Biggers
Publisher : Catapult
Page : 239 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2007-03-10
Category : History
ISBN : 9781582439945

Get Book

The United States of Appalachia by Jeff Biggers Pdf

Few places in the United States confound and fascinate Americans like Appalachia, yet no other area has been so markedly mischaracterized by the mass media. Stereotypes of hillbillies and rednecks repeatedly appear in representations of the region, but few, if any, of its many heroes, visionaries, or innovators are ever referenced. Make no mistake, they are legion: from Anne Royall, America's first female muckraker, to Sequoyah, a Cherokee mountaineer who invented the first syllabary in modern times, and international divas Nina Simone and Bessie Smith, as well as writers Cormac McCarthy, Edward Abbey, and Nobel Laureate Pearl S. Buck, Appalachia has contributed mightily to American culture — and politics. Not only did eastern Tennessee boast the country's first antislavery newspaper, Appalachians also established the first District of Washington as a bold counterpoint to British rule. With humor, intelligence, and clarity, Jeff Biggers reminds us how Appalachians have defined and shaped the United States we know today.

Author : Anita Puckett
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 326 pages
File Size : 54,9 Mb
Release : 2000
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780195102772

Get Book

Seldom Ask, Never Tell by Anita Puckett Pdf

Puckett takes a new look at the relationship between language, society, and economics by examining how people talk about work in a rural Appalachian community. Through careful analysis of conversations in casual yet commercial contexts, she finds that the construction and maintenance of this discourse is essential to the community's socioeconomic relationships. The volume will appeal to linguists, anthropologists, and scholars in communications and Appalachian studies.

Author : Grace Toney Edwards,JoAnn Aust Asbury,Ricky L. Cox
Publisher : Univ. of Tennessee Press
Page : 300 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 2006
Category : History
ISBN : 1572334592

Get Book

A Handbook to Appalachia by Grace Toney Edwards,JoAnn Aust Asbury,Ricky L. Cox Pdf

A Handbook to Appalachia provides a clear, concise first step toward understanding the expanding field of Appalachian studies, from the history of the area to its sometimes conflicted image, from its music and folklore to its outstanding literature. Also includes information on African Americans, Asheville, (North Carolina), ballads, baskets, bluegrass music, blues music, Cherokee Indians, Cincinnati (Ohio), Churches, Civil War, coal, cultural diversity, death, folk culture, food, Georgia, health, immigration, industry, Irish, Kentucky, Midwest, migration, Melungeons, Native Americans, North Carolina, out-migration, politics, population, poverty, Radford University, schools, Scotch-Irish, Scotland, South Carolina, storytelling, strip mining, Tennessee, Ulster Scots, Virginia, West Virginia, Women, etc.

Author : William Schumann,Rebecca Adkins Fletcher
Publisher : University Press of Kentucky
Page : 318 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 2016-07-22
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780813166988

Get Book

Appalachia Revisited by William Schumann,Rebecca Adkins Fletcher Pdf

Known for its dramatic beauty and valuable natural resources, Appalachia has undergone significant technological, economic, political, and environmental changes in recent decades. Home to distinctive traditions and a rich cultural heritage, the area is also plagued by poverty, insufficient healthcare and education, drug addiction, and ecological devastation. This complex and controversial region has been examined by generations of scholars, activists, and civil servants -- all offering an array of perspectives on Appalachia and its people. In this innovative volume, editors William Schumann and Rebecca Adkins Fletcher assemble both scholars and nonprofit practitioners to examine how Appalachia is perceived both within and beyond its borders. Together, they investigate the region's transformation and analyze how it is currently approached as a topic of academic inquiry. Arguing that interdisciplinary and comparative place-based studies increasingly matter, the contributors investigate numerous topics, including race and gender, environmental transformation, university-community collaborations, cyber identities, fracking, contemporary activist strategies, and analyze Appalachia in the context of local-to-global change. A pathbreaking study analyzing continuity and change in the region through a global framework, Appalachia Revisited is essential reading for scholars and students as well as for policymakers, community and charitable organizers, and those involved in community development.

Author : Joseph D. Witt
Publisher : University Press of Kentucky
Page : 278 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 2016-12-09
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780813168135

Get Book

Religion and Resistance in Appalachia by Joseph D. Witt Pdf

In the last fifty years, the Appalachian Mountains have suffered permanent and profound change due to the expansion of surface coal mining. The irrevocable devastation caused by this practice has forced local citizens to redefine their identities, their connections to global economic forces, their pasts, and their futures. Religion is a key factor in the fierce debate over mountaintop removal; some argue that it violates a divine mandate to protect the earth, while others contend that coal mining is a God-given gift to ensure human prosperity and comfort. In Religion and Resistance in Appalachia: Faith and the Fight against Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining, Joseph D. Witt examines how religious and environmental ethics foster resistance to mountaintop removal coal mining. Drawing on extensive interviews with activists, teachers, preachers, and community leaders, Witt's research offers a fresh analysis of an important and dynamic topic. His study reflects a diversity of denominational perspectives, exploring Catholic and mainline Protestant views of social and environmental justice, evangelical Christian readings of biblical ethics, and Native and nontraditional spiritual traditions. By placing Appalachian resistance to mountaintop removal in a comparative international context, Witt's work also provides new outlooks on the future of the region and its inhabitants. His timely study enhances, challenges, and advances conversations not only about the region, but also about the relationship between religion and environmental activism.