Participation Type
Paper
Presentation #1 Title
COMMON SENSE ECONOMIES: SOCIALIST STRATEGIES IN COMPANY COAL MINING TOWNS
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Historically, studies of Appalachia’s company coal mining towns have interpreted residents’ economic strategies through the lens of capitalism. These interpretations privilege the labor of men, namely miners, their labor conflicts, and barons of industry. Half of coal town residents were women and children, however. Examining coal towns as nodes in the web of capitalism subordinates non-capitalist economic strategies, particularly women’s, and therefore obscures their lives and dynamic historical roles in the coalfields. Archaeological interpretation proceeds from the household level, opening up discursive spaces for exploring the multiplicity of coal town residents and coal town economies. This study explores non-capitalist class processes at work in and amongst households of two early 20th century Kentucky coal towns. Archaeological, oral historical, and archival information are triangulated to examine women’s everyday lives via their roles as producers and consumers of household goods. Many ‘local socialisms’ (following Gibson-Graham 1996), such as communal labor and space, community exchange systems, and reuse and re-appropriation of mass-marketed goods operated in tandem with capitalist enterprises in a diverse economy. These strategies reflect diverse Appalachian people and communities, and can empower them today.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Zada Komara is a Ph.D. Candidate in Anthropology at the University of Kentucky. Her archaeological dissertation research focuses on identity and consumption at historic company coal mining towns, and she also administers the UK Appalachian Center's collaborative Coal Camp Documentary Project.
COMMON SENSE ECONOMIES: SOCIALIST STRATEGIES IN COMPANY COAL MINING TOWNS
Historically, studies of Appalachia’s company coal mining towns have interpreted residents’ economic strategies through the lens of capitalism. These interpretations privilege the labor of men, namely miners, their labor conflicts, and barons of industry. Half of coal town residents were women and children, however. Examining coal towns as nodes in the web of capitalism subordinates non-capitalist economic strategies, particularly women’s, and therefore obscures their lives and dynamic historical roles in the coalfields. Archaeological interpretation proceeds from the household level, opening up discursive spaces for exploring the multiplicity of coal town residents and coal town economies. This study explores non-capitalist class processes at work in and amongst households of two early 20th century Kentucky coal towns. Archaeological, oral historical, and archival information are triangulated to examine women’s everyday lives via their roles as producers and consumers of household goods. Many ‘local socialisms’ (following Gibson-Graham 1996), such as communal labor and space, community exchange systems, and reuse and re-appropriation of mass-marketed goods operated in tandem with capitalist enterprises in a diverse economy. These strategies reflect diverse Appalachian people and communities, and can empower them today.
