Participation Type
Paper
Session Title
Session 8.05 Social Conditions
Presentation #1 Title
Globalization in Appalachia: Economics, Religion, Society
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
More frequent, pervasive exposure of Appalachia to its larger, neighboring regions causes increasing experiences of "globalization" within Appalachia. These connections to the outside world, while unstoppable, do trend toward a homogenization of cultures, which can be examined in three dimensions: the economic, the religious and the societal. As globalizing forces advance, the world becomes more connected to itself. As with the world, so with Appalachia. It is inevitable that Appalachia is becoming more integrated with forces energies and cultures originating from beyond the region. One assured consequence of this interconnection is homogenizing of cultures into a kind of "superculture," and the potential loss of or changes in the peculiar traits of Appalachian culture. Beginning with roads, then the advent of mass communications, internet, and even mega-churches, an initiation of an irreversible process of change comes to sometimes-fragile cultural economic, religious and social systems in this region. Just as Appalachian cultures are foreign to many outside the region, this globalization process may have the unintended consequences of rendering Appalachia's own residents "foreigners" in their own land. This paper will give voice and insight into this globalization process.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Rising Senior at Mars Hill University
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Rising Senior at Mars Hill University
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #3
Rising Senior at Mars Hill University
Globalization in Appalachia: Economics, Religion, Society
More frequent, pervasive exposure of Appalachia to its larger, neighboring regions causes increasing experiences of "globalization" within Appalachia. These connections to the outside world, while unstoppable, do trend toward a homogenization of cultures, which can be examined in three dimensions: the economic, the religious and the societal. As globalizing forces advance, the world becomes more connected to itself. As with the world, so with Appalachia. It is inevitable that Appalachia is becoming more integrated with forces energies and cultures originating from beyond the region. One assured consequence of this interconnection is homogenizing of cultures into a kind of "superculture," and the potential loss of or changes in the peculiar traits of Appalachian culture. Beginning with roads, then the advent of mass communications, internet, and even mega-churches, an initiation of an irreversible process of change comes to sometimes-fragile cultural economic, religious and social systems in this region. Just as Appalachian cultures are foreign to many outside the region, this globalization process may have the unintended consequences of rendering Appalachia's own residents "foreigners" in their own land. This paper will give voice and insight into this globalization process.
