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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Natures And Wars : Neoliberal Discourse And The Contested Future Of East Kentucky., Shelly Annette Biesel 1986-
Natures And Wars : Neoliberal Discourse And The Contested Future Of East Kentucky., Shelly Annette Biesel 1986-
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Coal mining has been Appalachian Kentucky’s keystone industry for over a century. However, in 2012 and 2013 coal production plummeted, driving industry employment to historic lows. In the wake of production declines, the coal lobby attests that President Obama is waging a “war on coal.” Drawing primarily from ethnographic data, this research offers a holistic and critical examination of the recent decline in coal production and concomitant narratives that have emerged in the wake of socio-economic uncertainty. I argue that “war on coal” discourses, informed by neoliberal philosophies, seek to conflate the region’s mining heritage with the coal industry’s desire …