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Social Capital, Solidarity, And Cohort Effect —An Analysis Of The Production Of Social Capital Among Union Miners In Harlan County, Kentucky, Feng Hao

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

The coal industry exercises a pervasive influence on mining communities in Appalachia, even though it exerts enormous damages on the environment and makes limited contributions to employment and the advancement of the communities. One explanation for this paradox offered by Bell is a depletion of social capital among coalfield residents in Central Appalachia (2009). Her data suggests that the “ripping away” of the region’s strong union identity lead to a resocialization, “from a ‘we’ mentality to an ‘I’ mentality, thus demising the store of social capital” (2009:655). My research aims to interpret how social capital resources among union miners was …