Land before coal: class and regional development in southeast Kentucky

Thesis/Dissertation · Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1987

OSTI ID:7225985

Pudup, M B

At the turn of the century southeast Kentucky's economy was transformed from household subsistence farming and manufacturing to industrial coal production. During prior decades the economy had lapsed into subsistence, failing to generate demands for local industry, and blocking export-oriental development. Three county case studies reveal each possessed a resident middle class whose social bases were large property ownership, control over local commerce, and dominance of county politics. The emergence and constitution of the local middle class is explained in terms of longevity, kinship, and the political economic localisms endemic to the southern United States. Although it did not become a regional capitalist vanguard, the local middle class nonetheless became essential in the local edifice of capitalism by investing in county seat commercial and service industries and by continuing its control of local politics. The middle class also facilitated the capitalization of mountain resources. Case studies illuminate this role, distinguish among categories of resource investors, and describe geographical outcomes of capital investment.

• Research Organization: California Univ., Berkeley (USA)
• OSTI ID: 7225985
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
COAL INDUSTRY
HISTORICAL ASPECTS
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
KENTUCKY
REGIONAL ANALYSIS
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
INVESTMENT
LAND USE
FEDERAL REGION IV
INDUSTRY
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
NORTH AMERICA
USA
294001* - Energy Planning & Policy- Coal
290200 - Energy Planning & Policy- Economics & Sociology
015000 - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Economic
Industrial
& Business Aspects