Participation Type
Community Conversation
Appalachian Studies: The Next Generation
Session Abstract or Summary
Last year at the Appalachian Studies Association Conference in Cincinnati, OH members of the STAY Project protested the presence of JD Vance on a panel about the Opioid Crisis and were met with a vitriolic response from members of the Appalachian Studies Association. Since the conference, we have been completely left out of conversations about how to move forward and heal from this, our statement and requests were ignored and we have felt silenced. We are not coming into this conversation with hostility but we don't know how else to be a part of the conversation.
Presentation #1 Title
Resisting Oppressors is not Censorship: A conversation about accountability in Appalachian Studies
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
At the 2018 Appalachian Studies Conference in Cincinnati members of the Stay Together Appalachian Youth Project along with a few other young people attending the conference decided to protest the presence of Hillbilly Elegy author JD Vance. Vance was invited to be on a panel at ASA about the "opioid crisis" and its impact on a generation of young people in Appalachia.
hat the reaction to young people protesting was to declare that ASA was an “academic conference” and to tell them to leave while threatening to report them to the scholarship committee, calls into question whether academia actually wants youth to speak truth to power? While it is true that Appalachian Studies Conference has never been a solely “academic conference” it is worth emphasizing that if academia is not rooted and invested in the experience of people in Appalachia, then that academia is extractive. The method with which the young people in that room chose to resist Vance made people uncomfortable, but bringing Vance into that space was harmful, as was the vitriol with which the resistance to his presence was met. For many of us ASA has served as a unique place for scholars, activists, and community members to connect and build relationships across difference through their love of Appalachia. Damage has been done to marginalized members of that community and we are calling on the Appalachian Studies Association to wrestle with how comfortable they are with Vance’s narrative and at what cost. The STAY Project believes deeply in the principles of harm reduction and restorative justice and we believe there are ways that moving forward the Appalachian Studies Association can reduce the harm that was inflicted,
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
For 10 years the STAY Project has been building an ever-growing network of young people, adult allies, and organizations who are committed to just, inclusive, and sustainable communities throughout Appalachia and beyond. If you ask us, we will tell you about how an Appalachian youth movement is empowering young people to engage in visioning and building a better world. If you listen, we can do this together.
Resisting Oppressors is not Censorship: A conversation about accountability in Appalachian Studies
At the 2018 Appalachian Studies Conference in Cincinnati members of the Stay Together Appalachian Youth Project along with a few other young people attending the conference decided to protest the presence of Hillbilly Elegy author JD Vance. Vance was invited to be on a panel at ASA about the "opioid crisis" and its impact on a generation of young people in Appalachia.
hat the reaction to young people protesting was to declare that ASA was an “academic conference” and to tell them to leave while threatening to report them to the scholarship committee, calls into question whether academia actually wants youth to speak truth to power? While it is true that Appalachian Studies Conference has never been a solely “academic conference” it is worth emphasizing that if academia is not rooted and invested in the experience of people in Appalachia, then that academia is extractive. The method with which the young people in that room chose to resist Vance made people uncomfortable, but bringing Vance into that space was harmful, as was the vitriol with which the resistance to his presence was met. For many of us ASA has served as a unique place for scholars, activists, and community members to connect and build relationships across difference through their love of Appalachia. Damage has been done to marginalized members of that community and we are calling on the Appalachian Studies Association to wrestle with how comfortable they are with Vance’s narrative and at what cost. The STAY Project believes deeply in the principles of harm reduction and restorative justice and we believe there are ways that moving forward the Appalachian Studies Association can reduce the harm that was inflicted,
