Building a Healthy Appalachian Economy from the Bottom Up

We live in a time of widespread frustration and alienation, driven largely by a failed economic system that has concentrated wealth and political power at the top. Nowhere is this more true than in Appalachia, where both economic and political power have been disproportionately concentrated among a small group of elites in the coal industry, their allies and a handful of other powerful economic actors. This economic concentration has hindered the development of and investment in many promising economic alternatives emerging in Appalachian Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia and neighboring states. In this context, I propose to present and discuss a sampling of these emerging alternatives, the insights they offer, along with a range of local, state and federal public policies that could strengthen the movement towards a “just transition” in Appalachia. Much of my presentation will be based upon the research and analysis I undertook in writing my book, Building a Healthy Economy from the Bottom Up, published in June, 2016 by the University Press of Kentucky. In this session, which will be very interactive, I will connect a broad foundation of experience – particularly in Appalachia, but including other parts of the nation - with the broader economic, cultural and political challenges which have become so urgent and daunting in our time. A strategy for change, in the form of six transitions to a healthier, more just and sustainable economy will be put forward for consideration