Uneven Ground: Appalachia since 1945 (review)

In Uneven Ground, Ronald Eller builds upon the major arguments and conclusions presented in Miners, Millhands, and Mountaineers(Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1982), his groundbreaking history of the region from 1880-1930. In this new work, he further demonstrates the inadequacy of the notion of Appalachia as part of an "other" America and examines how government strategies and programs since 1945, similar to the processes of private industrial development prior to 1930, have left Appalachians more dependent upon the national economy and culture. Indeed, a central theme of both books is that the region is not different from the rest of America, but rather a mirror of what the nation is becoming.

As Eller acknowledges, he is a "presentist historian" who studies the past in order to think about and make a case for a more just and sustainable future. His scholarly research is enhanced by the knowledge gained through his extensive and varied involvement in the region's public arena. He begins his survey of the politics of development during the second half of the century by tracing changes in the Appalachian political economy from the 1930s to 1960. He then describes and critiques the mainstream assumptions that shaped the nation's response to poverty and attitudes toward progress in the 1960s and made Appalachia the yardstick against which to measure government success in eradicating poverty. His critical analysis of the programs of the War on Poverty and the strategies of the Appalachian Regional Commission forms the heart of Uneven Groundand lays bare the reasons for the uneven development they brought about. His closing chapter on "The New Appalachia" starkly underscores the environmental and human costs of these efforts and how they narrowed the options for more sustainable patterns of community development.

Some readers of Uneven Groundwill be disappointed that its focus is limited primarily to the coalfields and that the examples are drawn overwhelmingly from eastern Kentucky and West Virginia. Others will take issue with Eller's interpretation of which individuals, events, and organizations were most crucial in the ongoing local and regional struggles to confront the harmful impacts of development. But it is important not to lose sight of the significant contributions of this work. Eller offers a tight and at times passionate narrative of major historical events since 1945 and their connection to the national scene. He makes clear that development is a value-laden political act and identifies the winners and losers of that process as it has played out in the region. In describing the class and ideological differences that divide communities and how these differences reflect the social divisions of modern America, he illustrates the ways in which the exploitation of Appalachia has come from both outside and within the region. He also explains in some detail how federal programs fueled a new cultural identity and laid the groundwork for a regional social movement.

Eller demonstrates conclusively that the "public strategies designed to address the 'Appalachian problem' failed not only because they did not confront the structural inequities behind the conditions but also because Appalachian problems were fundamentally those of the rest of the nation" (223). Thus, future efforts to "save" Appalachia must be universal, systemic, and confront the larger structures of national and global injustice. Such strategies must grow out of a national public dialogue on the meaning of progress, the many different paths to development, and the role of government in assuring equity and fairness in our lives and communities. Uneven Groundhas a crucial role to play in that dialogue.