Participation Type
Paper
Session Title
Session 7.03 Activism and Organizing
Presentation #1 Title
Mediating Mountain Marginality: Implications for Further Comparative Research on Media Ecologies in Appalachia and the Andes
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Media ecology can refer to media as another environmental system in which people live and must survive. In relation to regional studies, media ecology can include how a region and its people are portrayed in the media, how they are influenced by it, as well as how they influence media through their own interpretations or “talking back” by creating their own. The metaphor of “ecology” also highlights the way that media messages and technology can impact environmental and economic sustainability. This paper will explore the notion of media ecology in the use of visual media as a tool for organizing and activism in the “Two Souths” of Central/Southern Appalachia and the Bolivian Andes in South America. I will share some examples of media programs and projects in both regions that address social and environmental justice issues, including popular education, media literacy, and human rights. For example, a human rights film festival in Bolivia covered topics such as mining and prisoner rights, which are also issues addressed in films produced by organizations like Appalshop. I will close with some implications for future research as well as potential opportunities for Appalachian/Andean visual media networks and collaborations.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Tammy Clemons is currently a doctoral student in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Kentucky where she is beginning research on media collectives and activism in Appalachia and the Bolivian Andes. She is also a filmmaker who uses film/video as a medium for storytelling whether researching and documenting on behalf of others or empowering communities and individuals to tell their own stories. She was recently invited to serve as a jury member at the 2013 International Human Rights Film Festival in Sucre, Bolivia. She and her partner are ecofeminist activists and off-the-grid homesteaders with deep Appalachian roots.
Mediating Mountain Marginality: Implications for Further Comparative Research on Media Ecologies in Appalachia and the Andes
Drinko Library 138
Media ecology can refer to media as another environmental system in which people live and must survive. In relation to regional studies, media ecology can include how a region and its people are portrayed in the media, how they are influenced by it, as well as how they influence media through their own interpretations or “talking back” by creating their own. The metaphor of “ecology” also highlights the way that media messages and technology can impact environmental and economic sustainability. This paper will explore the notion of media ecology in the use of visual media as a tool for organizing and activism in the “Two Souths” of Central/Southern Appalachia and the Bolivian Andes in South America. I will share some examples of media programs and projects in both regions that address social and environmental justice issues, including popular education, media literacy, and human rights. For example, a human rights film festival in Bolivia covered topics such as mining and prisoner rights, which are also issues addressed in films produced by organizations like Appalshop. I will close with some implications for future research as well as potential opportunities for Appalachian/Andean visual media networks and collaborations.
