“And they wrote it all down as the progress of man”: Relationships between environment, extractive industries, and Appalachian agency

The landscape of Central Appalachia has shaped and been shaped by its residents for thousands of years. The advent of industrialized extractive industries greatly shifted the nature and the extent of these processes, with capitalistic domination being asserted over the environment. While this shift towards industrialization was a widespread phenomenon, it undertook a unique trajectory within Appalachia, a region which occupies a distinct position within the national perspective. Although geographically established by the Appalachian Regional Commission, Appalachia is more than a politically defined set of counties: It is an incredibly diverse sociocultural region that exists on varying planes of marginalization within national discourse. Severe environmental pollution and degradation is one form of this marginalization and as such, should be considered both within its own ecological contexts and the social, economic, and political contexts which have created and maintained regional power disparities.

This research examines acts of agency and resistance in three Central Appalachian counties that have been affected by extractive pollution: Harlan and Martin counties in Kentucky and Scott County in Virginia. The residents in each of these counties have been impacted by environmental events, ranging from long-term coal mining operations to severe coal slurry spills. Through interviews and participant observation, I shed light upon the ways in which people have used their power to counteract the negative ramifications from these occurrences, including increasing the availability of healthcare, working to rehabilitate the land, and promoting sustainable energy sources. Furthermore, I position these acts in relation to so-called “outsider” perceptions and stereotypes and examine the connections between ascribed identities and the agentive acts of those onto whom such identities are assigned.