Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

8-1997

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Social Work

Major Professor

Catherine A. Faver

Committee Members

Sherry Cable, Mike McKinney, John Nolt

Abstract

This study examined the ways in which people living and working within East Tennessee and the Southern Appalachian bioregion attempt to do so more sustainably, and by extension, responsibly. A total of 94 subjects participated in guided interviews (N=76), with some interviews having multiple participants. The interviews examined the range of sustainable living practices which were being learned, developed, and practiced; the subjects’ personal pathways to their practices and world views, as distinct from the social mainstream; and the subjects’ demographic characteristics. Results from data analysis drawn from subject responses to both open- and closed-ended questions indicate the following: (a) the majority of the 94 respondents (52 male, 42 female) were well-educated, white-Caucasians (91), while 3 were African- Americans, and most respondents fell within an age range of 30 to 50 years old; (b) the existence of individual and community sustainable living practices involve food, shelter. energy, transportation and health (including organic agriculture), use of alternative building designs and materials, alternative renewable energy systems, use of bicycles. car-pooling efforts and vehicle maintenance routines, and alternative health care practices involving preventive strategies and the use of herbal remedies; (c) the developing range of sustainable homesteads and communities are comprised of structures using materials including Styrofoam panels, straw bales, cob (clay, sand, and straw composite material), scrap lumber, and stone, and they often reflect efforts at integrating low-cost high thermal efficiency, solar heating and lighting, creative cooling techniques, indoor-outdoor connections, general interests in pursuing notions of self-sufficiency in food and energy, and/or environmental sensitivity; (d) a group of people (N=84) are involved in occupations and vocations which reflect interests in, and ethics of, sustainability including organic crop and cattle farmers, human and animal health care professionals, small business owners and employees, educators (primary, secondary, and college-level), community organizers and activists, permaculturalists, home-makers. government employees, journalists, college students, and artists; and (e) complex and diverse motivations for why such efforts have been and are being undertaken include environmental concerns, personal and professional experiences, insights gained from education, travel, and personal contacts. Implications and recommendations for professional social work are suggested.

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