University of California, Berkeley

Graduate Student, Anthropology

About

I am a doctoral student in archaeology at UC Berkeley. My interests are in social inequality, working class emancipatory archaeologies, labor conflict, development of political authority, historical archaeology, liberation theory,
hunter-gatherer archaeology, and archaeology of the emergence of the state.

Currently, I am writing my dissertation on Blair Mountain, the site of the largest class war in US history. In the fall of 1921, West Virginia coal miners rebelled against an oppressive social system. 10,000 miners clashed with a private army backed by coal operators, and were only stopped by the intercession of federal troops.

Today, Blair Mountain is embroiled in another conflict. Massey Energy Company is attempting to conduct mountaintop removal (MTR) operations at the site. This catastrophic coal extraction process would destroy Blair Mountain. Due to this imminent threat, a variety of groups have reinterpreted and reasserted the mountain's historic meaning as a place of resistance in the fight to stop MTR completely.

Research for my work in the coalfields is framed by “an emancipatory theory for the working class”. My research plan is formulated from engagement with multiple groups including descendants of combatants, labor organizations, local residents, and community organizations. From initial discussions, I have developed three main community interests – preservation of the battlefield, building a museum or center at the site, and developing an interpretive hiking trail. Tied into these goals are research questions drawn from the various stakeholders. Some questions relate to the dynamics of the battle itself, while others are interested in the common, everyday aspects of mining life – the ‘what was it like back then for my grandma or grandpa’ question. Another area of concern is the larger political context of the miners’ struggles and its relation to contemporary social problems in Appalachia.

To address these interests, I utilize liberation theory and a humanist dialectic to explain social change and to link the historical processes between past and present struggles. By understanding the above three areas of interest as a nestled hierarchy, we can move from the particulars of the battle to the everyday conditions of the mining families, and then to the larger processes and institutions underlying the labor conflict. Tracing these institutions and structures historically through time in a dialectic framework allows me to connect the past and present political struggles in the coalfields.

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