Transforming Places: Lessons from Appalachia - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0252078381 ISBN 13: 9780252078385

Publisher: University of Illinois Press, 2012

Synopsis

In this era of globalization's ruthless deracination, place attachments have become increasingly salient in collective mobilizations across the spectrum of politics. Like place-based activists in other resource-rich yet impoverished regions across the globe, Appalachians are contesting economic injustice, environmental degradation, and the anti-democratic power of elites. This collection of seventeen original essays by scholars and activists from a variety of backgrounds explores this wide range of oppositional politics, querying its successes, limitations, and impacts. The editors' critical introduction and conclusion integrate theories of place and space with analyses of organizations and events discussed by contributors. Transforming Places illuminates widely relevant lessons about building coalitions and movements with sufficient strength to challenge corporate-driven globalization.

About this title

Review:

"The range of topics covered in this volume provides an exciting view of the new directions grassroots activism is taking in Appalachia: immigrants' rights, the history and dissolution of an organizing training program, collaborations between faith-based institutions and labor, coalitions that address farming and hunger, and a variety of analyses of recent activism against mountaintop removal. This is undoubtedly a major contribution to Appalachian studies." --Mary K. Anglin, University of Kentucky

"I cannot recall a book that has excited me more than Transforming Places. This work is a major step forward in the study of social change, our understanding of 'free spaces,' and local resistance - how people get power and how they can use it to get more." Richard A. Couto, editor of Political and Civic Leadership: A Reference Handbook "Transforming Places addresses timely issues and tracks changes in political movements in Appalachia, assessing the devastating economic, social, and environmental costs amid hints of optimism for a more sustainable future. This work is significant for Appalachian studies and its overlapping disciplines but also will be useful outside of academia for agencies and organizations focused on sustainable development, strengthening community, and building alliances." --Patricia D. Beaver, co-editor of Tales from Sacred Wind: Coming of Age in Appalachia

From the Author:

 Stephen L. Fisher is professor emeritus at Emory & Henry College, where he founded and directed the Appalachian Center for Community Service. Barbara Ellen Smith is professor of women's and gender studies at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Illinois Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0252078381
• ISBN 13: 9780252078385
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336
• Editor: Fisher Stephen L., Smith Barbara Ellen