BartonMemo14

BartonMemo14: Emerging Narratives

What I think is going on ...

Unionization first took hold in the coalfields not only in response to the working conditions of the miners, but in response to the living conditions of the miners and their families. Certainly a lot of that had to do with basic physical issues—safety, health, wages, etc. But the other reason, I think, is that the coal town structure left the people with almost no autonomy and few real choices. Everything in the town, from the churches to the ball fields, the doctors to the bars, were owned by the coal companies. The companies governed and governed absolutely.

That hasn't actually changed much in practice, although there's been a shift in the way corporate power is enacted. The line between corporations and government has only become thinner over time. This is no secret and is why people take their grievances directly to both the companies and to governments (similar to other boycotts and things). In fact, activists have taken copies of exactly the same petition to both stockholder meetings and state congresses.

As coal mining became more mechanized post-WWII, real employment dropped even though real production increased. Coal was thus still an important part of 'the economy' and the automatic inference for most people is that an important part of the economy would also be an important source of employment. To what extent this is true is constantly, and heatedly, debated. It's actually a difficult question to answer straightforwardly because there are many secondary jobs associated with coal mining. Nevertheless, the industry has been around long enough that people can begin to question how it is that a region with some of the greatest wealth in terms of natural resources is one of the poorest in terms of income, etc. And, they are starting to be heard.

So maybe my real question is why are they starting to be heard now? What is it that's resonating, and with whom, and why? Because there are interesting things starting to happen. MTR isn't going to end any time soon, and yet there are a few government officials in the region, even those who are to some degree beholden to the coal industry (as most are), who are beginning to make noises about mild restrictions on MTR. That's huge. NC and GA have both proposed bills that would ban the use of MTR coal. There is no MTR happening in those states, nor is coal mining a major part of their economy, but the fact that they passed such bills suggests that people outside of the immediate region (but still near) see MTR as something that shouldn't be allowed, and that puts pressure on the states where it is allowed. The issue of MTR also taps into wider conversations/discourses about environmentalism, labor rights, environmental/economic/energy justice, global warming (and fossil fuels, esp.), economic colonialism, regional identities. In other words, it resonates across a number of different concerns.