Participation Type
Roundtable
Session Title
Session 8.15 Economic Conditions
Session Abstract or Summary
Successive generations of activists and scholars have defined Appalachia as an "internal colony," but is the fact that owners (of land, capital, etc.) are typically not from the region the decisive factor in regional impoverishment and exploitation? This roundtable engages questions about how to define and theorize Appalachia's past in order to overcome its legacies and organize towards brighter futures.
Despite its critics, the internal colony framework has shown remarkable resilience over the years. Successive generations of activists and scholars have targeted “outside interests” as the chief culprits in regional impoverishment, exploitation, and stereotyping. The concentration of land, for example, in the hands of those who reside outside the region seems by definition to represent a form of dispossession that must account for the poverty of many who live here. But is the fact that owners (of land, capital, major media outlets, etc.) are typically not from Appalachia the decisive factor that explains regional degradation? As the need for major economic transitions within Appalachia, perhaps especially the coalfields, becomes more widely accepted, questions about how to define and theorize the past in order to overcome its legacies and organize towards brighter futures become more urgent. Does “internal colony” adequately clarify the context and aims of our struggle? Is ridding the region of outsider ownership and control our central organizing goal? If not, what is? This roundtable explores such questions in the hope of contributing to insights about Appalachia’s past as well as its future.
Presentation #1 Title
Internal Colony--Are You Sure? Defining, Theorizing, Organizing Appalachia
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Despite its critics, the internal colony framework has shown remarkable resilience over the years. Successive generations of activists and scholars have targeted “outside interests” as the chief culprits in regional impoverishment, exploitation, and stereotyping. The concentration of land, for example, in the hands of those who reside outside the region seems by definition to represent a form of dispossession that must account for the poverty of many who live here. But is the fact that owners (of land, capital, major media outlets, etc.) are typically not from Appalachia the decisive factor that explains regional degradation? As the need for major economic transitions within Appalachia, perhaps especially the coalfields, becomes more widely accepted, questions about how to define and theorize the past in order to overcome its legacies and organize towards brighter futures become more urgent. Does “internal colony” adequately clarify the context and aims of our struggle? Is ridding the region of outsider ownership and control our central organizing goal? If not, what is? This roundtable explores such questions in the hope of contributing to insights about Appalachia’s past as well as its future.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Mary Anglin teaches at the University of Kentucky, where she also currently serves as chair of the Department of Anthropology. Her research interests coalesce around questions of health, environment, livelihoods, and activism, as well as the practical application of anthropological knowledge to struggles for social justice.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Dwight B. Billings, professor of sociology at the University of Kentucky, is a past president of the Appalachian Studies Association and past editor of the Journal of Appalachian Studies. His most recent book, The Road to Poverty: The Making of Wealth and Hardship in Appalachia, is co-authored with Kathleen Blee.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #3
Silas House is the nationally bestselling author of seven books and three plays. He serves as the NEH Chair of Appalachian Studies at Berea College and on the fiction faculty of the MFA in Creative Writing at Spalding University. His work has appeared multiple times on NPR, CNN, and in The New York Times, Oxford American, Sojourners, Newsday, Narrative, and many anthologies. House is a native of eastern Kentucky.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #4
Cathy Kunkel has lived and worked in West Virginia for the past four years, and has been involved in several environmental justice and economic transition efforts through her work with Coal River Mountain Watch and Energy Efficient West Virginia. She is a founder and steering committee member of Advocates for a Safe Water System, a community association that formed after the January 2014 chemical spill that contaminated the drinking water for 300,000 West Virginians.
Ada Smith is from Whitesburg, Kentucky and currently serves as the Institutional Development Director of Appalshop. Appalshop is an anchor cultural institution in central Appalachia that has worked regionally and nationally for 45 years. She is also a founding member of the Stay Together Appalachian Youth (STAY) Project, a youth-led multi issue regional network.
Barbara Ellen Smith and Steve Fisher will co-moderate this session.
Barbara Ellen Smith is professor of women's and gender studies in the Department of Sociology at Virginia Tech. She is a scholar-activist who focuses her research on social inequality and movements for social justice in Appalachia and the U.S. South. Her most recent book, co-edited with Steve Fisher, is Transforming Places: Lessons from Appalachia.
Steve Fisher, professor emeritus at Emory & Henry College, is the editor of Fighting Back in Appalachia: Traditions of Resistance and Change and co-editor of Transforming Places: Lessons from Appalachia.He has written on a variety of Appalachian issues, been active in a number of Appalachian resistance efforts, and worked to build links between the academic community and activists in the region.
Internal Colony--Are You Sure? Defining, Theorizing, Organizing Appalachia
Despite its critics, the internal colony framework has shown remarkable resilience over the years. Successive generations of activists and scholars have targeted “outside interests” as the chief culprits in regional impoverishment, exploitation, and stereotyping. The concentration of land, for example, in the hands of those who reside outside the region seems by definition to represent a form of dispossession that must account for the poverty of many who live here. But is the fact that owners (of land, capital, major media outlets, etc.) are typically not from Appalachia the decisive factor that explains regional degradation? As the need for major economic transitions within Appalachia, perhaps especially the coalfields, becomes more widely accepted, questions about how to define and theorize the past in order to overcome its legacies and organize towards brighter futures become more urgent. Does “internal colony” adequately clarify the context and aims of our struggle? Is ridding the region of outsider ownership and control our central organizing goal? If not, what is? This roundtable explores such questions in the hope of contributing to insights about Appalachia’s past as well as its future.
