The ruined anthracite : historical trauma in coal-mining communities / Paul A. Shackel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Shackel, Paul A., author.

Series:

Working class in American history

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Anthracite coal industry--Pennsylvania--Scranton Region--History.

Anthracite coal industry.

Deindustrialization--Pennsylvania--Scranton Region--History.

Deindustrialization.

Marginality, Social--Pennsylvania--Scranton Region--History.

Marginality, Social.

Scranton (Pa.)--Social life and customs.

Scranton (Pa.).

Manners and customs.

Pennsylvania--Scranton.

Pennsylvania--Scranton Region.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xiii, 224 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Urbana : University of Illinois Press, [2023]

Summary:

"Once a busy if impoverished center for the anthracite coal industry, northeastern Pennsylvania exists today as a region suffering inexorable decline--racked by economic hardship and rampant opioid abuse, abandoned by young people, and steeped in xenophobic fear. Paul A. Shackel merges analysis with oral history to document the devastating effects of a lifetime of structural violence on the people who have stayed behind. Heroic stories of workers facing the dangers of underground mining stand beside accounts of people living their lives in a toxic environment and battling deprivation and starvation by foraging, bartering, and relying on the good will of neighbors. As Shackel reveals the effects of these long-term traumas, he sheds light on people's poor health and lack of well-being. The result is a valuable on-the-ground perspective that expands our understanding of the social fracturing, economic decay, and anger afflicting many communities across the United States. Insightful and dramatic, The Ruined Anthracite combines archaeology, documentary research, and oral history to render the ongoing human cost of environmental devastation and unchecked capitalism"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Structural violence in the anthracite

Coal and people

Living in the anthracite

The Duplan Silk Mill and the garment industry in Northeastern Pennsylvania

Food insecurities in the anthracite

The toxic anthracite environment

Traditions, traditional medicines, and powwowers

Remembering the anthracite

The making of contemporary Northeastern Pennsylvania and the city of Hazleton

Some challenges facing a deindustrialized community.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Shackel, Paul A. Ruined anthracite

ISBN:

9780252045141

0252045149

9780252087288

0252087283

OCLC:

1345459357