Two Sides to Everything: The Cultural Construction of Class Consciousness in Harlan County, Kentucky

by Shaunna L. Scott

This is an oral history and ethnography of miners and their families in Kentucky focusing on political ideology and working class consciousness.

Harlan County, Kentucky emerged in the public eye during the 1930s when poverty, unemployment, and violent unionization struggles caught the attention of the national news media and the American people. It burst on the scene again during the 1972-73 Brookside strike, an event chronicled in the Academy Award-winning film, "Harlan County, U.S.A." In this book the author brings the American reader up to date on this interesting community by documenting the everyday lives of Harlan miners and their families in the mid-1980s.

Using a neo-Marxian perspective, Two Sides to Everything characterizes the nature, limitations, and transformative potential of class consciousness among two generations of Harlan miners. It also elucidates the apparent contradictions between popular images of central Appalachians, as militant labor activists, on one hand, and passive, traditional, fatalistic "hillbillies," on the other. The book accomplishes these tasks through a systematic consideration of the relationship between the central experiential bases and sources of identity among Harlan county miners—class, kinship, community, religion, and gender.

259 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1995

Reviews

[Comely · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book explores several avenues of Harlan County and the concept of Class Consciousness. It dives deep into religion, pro and anti union events and how the people of Harlan County lived and operated in daily life. However, portions of the book felt like a drag or too anecdotal for my tastes which mostly were in the latter chapters of the book. I don't think that it weakens the narrative of the book, but sometimes it felt lost or confused. I believe the biggest flaw of the book which is mentioned in the Afterword was the lack of race and its associated commentary. Harlan County wasn't a purely White community and race plays a significant role in Class Consciousness. I wish the author during her time explored people's opinions of race, their biases and their unconscious or conscious racial issues and tendencies. I think this book at the end of the day informs the reader about Harlan County's history and is a good starting point learning about American Appalachia, the concepts of pro and anti union sentiments and again, Class Consciousness.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore this book. Granted -- I know Shaunna, so I may be a tad bit biased -- however, it's concise and easy to read. I used this book in my Master's thesis, Doctoral qualifying exams, and Doctoral dissertation, and I will most likely be using it in an Appalachian Studies course I'm teaching in the spring.

[Trent Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting look into the labor struggles of the Appalachian coal miners.