Appalachia in Regional Context: Place Matters (Place Matters New Direction Appal Stds)

Product Description

In an increasingly globalized world, place matters more than ever. This concept especially holds true in Appalachian studies—a field that brings scholars, activists, artists, and citizens together around the region to contest misappropriations of resources and power and to combat stereotypes of isolation and intolerance. In Appalachia in Regional Context: Place Matters, Dwight B. Billings and Ann E. Kingsolver assemble scholars and artists from a variety of disciplines to broaden the conversation and challenge the binary opposition between regionalism and globalism.

In addition to theoretical explorations of place, some of the case studies examine foodways, depictions of gendered and racialized Appalachian identity in popular culture, the experiences of rural LGBTQ youth, and the pitfalls and promises of teaching regional studies. Drawing on ideas from cultural anthropology, sociology, and a variety of other fields, and interleaved with poems by bell hooks, this volume furthers the examination of new perspectives on one of America’s most compelling and misunderstood regions.

Review

” Appalachia in Regional Context: Place Matters… highlights tensions within the field of Appalachian studies, particularly tensions rooted in the diverse political, economic, and epistemological paradigms… Gathering previous talks, panels, and parts of larger projects, Billings and Kingsolver weave them together in a way that urges the reader to make new connections between familiar yet often distant texts.” — Journal of Southern History

“Overall, this book offers a provocative reexamination of Appalachia and place.” — Choice

Review

“What’s so valuable about this book is that it gathers so many different ideas and approaches in one volume, thereby making them more easily accessible to audiences in Appalachian studies as well as other disciplines.”—Stephen L. Fisher, coeditor of Transforming Places: Lessons from Appalachia

“There is much to like in this stimulating volume; in many ways it is another significant example of Appalachian studies continuing to explore new boundaries, terrain, and perspectives. It’s a solid example of the strength of regionalist inquiry today.”—Chad Berry, author of Southern Migrants, Northern Exiles

“Overall, this book offers a provocative reexamination of Appalachia and place.”— Choice

” Appalachia in Regional Context: Place Matters highlights tensions within the field of Appalachian studies, particularly tensions rooted in the diverse political, economic, and epistemological paradigms… Gathering previous talks, panels, and parts of larger projects, Billings and Kingsolver weave them together in a way that urges the reader to make new connections between familiar yet often distant texts.”— Journal of Southern History

From the Publisher

Dwight B. Billings is professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Kentucky. He is a past president of the Appalachian Studies Association, a recent editor of the Journal of Appalachian Studies, and the author or editor of several books.

Ann E. Kingsolver is professor of anthropology and past director of the Appalachian Center and Appalachian Studies Program at the University of Kentucky. She is the author or editor of seven books, including Tobacco Town Futures: Global Encounters in Rural Kentucky

About the Author

Dwight B. Billings is professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Kentucky. He is a past president of the Appalachian Studies Association,
a recent editor of the
Journal of Appalachian Studies, and the author or editor of several books.

Ann E. Kingsolver is professor of anthropology and past director of the Appalachian Center and Appalachian Studies Program at the University of Kentucky. She is the author or editor of seven books, including
Tobacco Town Futures: Global Encounters in Rural Kentucky.

bell hooks is