Communities in Economic Crisis

Hard times are no stranger to the people of Appalachia and the South. Earlier books have documented the low wages of the textile industry, boom-and-bust cycles of coal mining, and debt peonage of Southern agriculture that have established a heritage of poverty that endures. This book is a unique collection of essays by people who are actively involved in the efforts to challenge economic injustice in these regions and to empower the residents to build democratic alternatives. Author note: John Gaventa is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a staff member of the Highlander Research and Education Center. >P>Barbara Ellen Smith is former Research Coordinator of the Southeast Women's Employment Coalition and the author of Digging Our Own Graves: Coal Miners and the Struggle over Black Lung Disease (Temple). >P>Alex Willingham is Research Director of the Southern Regional Council.

Part I: Case Studies of Crisis and Struggle1. "It Has to Come from the People": Responding to Plant Closings in Ivanhoe, Virginia - Maxine Waller, Helen M. Lewis, Clare McBrien, and Carroll Wessings2. People Power: Working for the Future in the East Kentucky Coalfields - Kristin Layng Szakos3. Voices from the Coalfields: How Miners' Families Understand the Crisis of Coal - Mike Yarrow4. "Women Miners Can Dig It Too!" - Betty Jean Hall5. Organizing Women for Local Economic Development - Chris Weiss6. Organizing Rural Farmers: Central Kentucky in Global Context - Hal Hamilton7. From the Mountains to the Maquiladoras: A Case Study of Capital Flight and Its impact on Workers - John Gaventa8. A Betrayal of Trust: The Impact of Economic Development Policy Upon Working Citizens - John Bookser-Feister and Leah Wise9. Alternative Worker Organizing in South Carolina - Charles Taylor10. Voting Rights and Community Empowerment: Political Struggle in the Georgia Black Belt - Alex Willingham11. Race, Development, and the Character of Black Political Life in Bogalusa, Louisiana - Rickey Hill12. Economic Slavery or Hazardous Wastes: Robenson County's Economic Menu- Richard Regan and Mac Legerton13. The Mayhew Tree: An Informal Case Study in Homegrown Economic Development - Ralph HilsPart II: Visions for the Future14. Saturn: Tomorrow's Jobs, Yesterday's Wages and Myths - Carter Garber15. Environmentalism, Economic Blackmail, and Civil Rights: Competing Agendas Within the Black Community - Robert D. Bullard16. New Workforce; New Organizing: The Experience of Women Office Workers and 9 to 5 - Cindia Cameron17. The Changing International Division of Labor: Links with Southern Africa - Ann Seidmun18. Economics Education, a Cultural and Political Project - Wendy Luttrell19. Naming the Problem: Some Perspectives from Creole Culture - Deborah Clifton Hils20. Towards a Human Needs Economy - Richard A. Couto21. National Economic Renewal Programs and Their Implications for Economic Development in Appalachia and the South - Steve Fisher22. Toward a New Debate: Development, Democracy, and Dignity - the editors