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.

 

 

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.

"The seventeen original essays showcased in Transforming Places chronicle and analyze these diverse struggles in an attempt to answer one driving question: 'Who will control such places, and to what ends?'… The mill might turn drop by drop, as the old song says, but anyone who wants to understand the water of activism is flowing in Appalachia these days--and anyone who would like first person perspectives on how to and how not to build a better mill--could not find a better hand book than Transforming Places."--Now and Then
 

"Engaging and accessible. . . . will win a place on the shelves of scholars, practitioners and activists alike."--West Virginia History