Appalachia in Regional Context: Place Matters - Paperback

by Dwight B. Billings (Editor), Ann E. Kingsolver (Editor)

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.

Author Biography

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