Economic transition is reshaping rural America, and a public panel at the University of Kentucky will explore how Appalachian communities are responding through research, collaboration and local action.
The UK Appalachian Center and Appalachian Studies Program - housed in the College of Arts and Sciences - will host the discussion, "Shifting Power in Rural America: Conversations on Just Transitions," 4-5:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 21, in Jacobs Science Building, Room 321.
The event is free and open to the public.
The conversation will feature MacArthur Fellows John Gaventa and Loka Ashwood, joined by Gabe Schwartzman, Ph.D., from the University of Tennessee; Shaunna Scott, Ph.D., UK sociology emerita; and Kathryn Engle, Ph.D., director of the UK Appalachian Center. Together, the panelists will examine how economic and political systems are changing in rural America, and what those shifts mean for Appalachian communities facing the decline of coal and other industries.
The event is part of a broader series focused on "just transitions," a framework that centers people and place as communities adapt to economic and environmental change.
A reception hosted by the Food Connection will follow from 5:30-6:30 p.m., featuring local Appalachian foods and offering attendees a chance to continue the conversation and connect with panelists. Books by the speakers will be available for purchase before and after the event, including "Toward Just Transitions: Visions for Regenerative Communities in Appalachia," co-edited by Engle and Scott, which was recently published by University Press of Kentucky.
"Shifting Power in Rural America: Conversations on Just Transitions" is coordinated with support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, as part of the Defying Boundaries: MacArthur Fellows at 45 and is co-sponsored by several UK programs, including the Graduate Appalachian Research Community, the Department of Sociology, the Department of Geography, the Kentucky Climate Consortium, the Committee on Social Theory, the Food Connection and the Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability and the Environment.
Learn more at appalachiancenter.as.uky.edu/shifting-power-rural-america-conversations-just-transitions.
