By Marcus Carter
Credit Dr. Kara Rogers Thomas's presentation
The presentation given by Dr. Kara
Rogers Thomas, Assistant Professor of Sociology, titled “An
Aggrieved Appalachia” was surprising. Although perfunctory
introductions were given, the talk did not truly start until Roger
Thomas spoke, “Appalachia has become a battlefield.” The
excitement and tension that began to peculate made this presentation
pop was not a product of the setting, a small brightly painted room
with peach chairs or the action shots of activists contrasting the
bleak environment of a freshly striped mountain top that. More than
usual talks advocating for seemingly noble but deficient green images
which aggrandize recycling, changing one light bulb, and reducing
showers by minutes as simple solutions to complex global problems,
this presentation was alive. The presentations’ animation was not
due to liveliness, but emotion and controversy.
The presentation oozed with emotions
from the speaker, the audience, and the slides. As Rogers Thomas
bridled her obvious passions by sticking to her script, purposely, to
avoid tainting the audience with biases, her restrained passion added
tantalizing suspense that invigorated the annual earth day talk, as
the audience wondered if composures would break, freeing and fueling
the controversy.
Like the passion-infused atmosphere,
the topic of the presentation was also unique. Instead of discussing
contentious demonstrations for and against energy corporations,
Rogers’ talk broached the tactics and counter- tactics employed by
activists to engage by-standers in a conversation of the dangers of
mountain top mining, strip mining and fracking and the responses or
techniques used by corporations to combat protesters and woo
on-lookers to their view point.
Yet, interactions between activists and
corporation were more than a conversation, the confrontation of words
between individual activists and large corporations was a fight, with
which Rogers noted was specifically filled with emotionally charged
phrasing and polarizing war and religious metaphors. Although
protestors and corporations alike used every tactic, billboards,
images, digital media, flyers, which they could to gain support
through logic, statistics, sympathy, or shame, one tactic used by
activists had roots in the Appalachian area as deep as the regions
energy production. The particularly potent tactic, Rogers’
explained used the elements of orally passed folklore, the personal
narrative. Rogers further explicated that the narrative creates an
inclusiveness or identity, saying, “what is compelling in the use
of the narrative as a tool is that it takes the statics, the
quantitative and makes it qualitative; it makes it personal.” This
personal approach has the ability to move others to action without
seeming pretentious or preachy.
The personal narrative came in
different forms from documentaries like John Fox’s Gasland,
to the talks of grass roots citizens that have become renowned
activists, West Virginia natives Julia Bonds and Maria Gunnoe, and
through songs like My Water's On Fire Tonight (The Fracking Song).
Rogers proceeded to give examples of the compelling personal
narratives.
As the talk concluded, audience
responses added levels of depth to the conversation. Audience members
pointed out flaws in the use of narratives, highlighting that the
stories can add inaccuracies into the debate. One instance, Dr. Mary
Mumper, Associate chemistry Professor, pointed out methane does not
dissolve in water as the Fracking song supposes and points out that
the water catching fire was an atypical event. Dr. Mumper comment was
not to champion the behavior of corporations because she agreed that
the mountain top removal is an extremely dangerous and
environmentally destabilizing approach, she simply wanted was to
elucidate the facts.
The noted inconsistencies, possibly
unintentional placed in narratives have a potential to get repeated
and weaken protestors stories because corporations tend to focus on
those details in attempts to discredit grass root activists’
stories. Rogers Thomas agreed saying, “that the hope is people will
be pulled in and then they could do their own research.”
In the end, each complaint in the
energy fight boils down to responsibility. The responsibility of
corporations to pay for the damage they cause and to stop diverting
attention to narratives lack of technical jargon and own up to the
companies’ misdeeds. Although the water’s characteristic of
catching on fire was an anomaly, the fracking companies tampering did
cause the polluting of the town water in Wyoming and their tactics
for energy production enriches them but leaves the town and regions
increasing impoverished. Responsibility also rests on activists and
newly persuaded by-standers to conduct research and investigate the
details of their stories and not to proliferate untruths.
Responsibility does not make a catchy
narrative nor does it entice people to get involved. Yet the only way
to break free of energy dependencies and avoid drastically changing
the earth would be to use both parts of humanity, both emotions and
logic. By using the strategy that Rogers Thomas exhibited throughout
her talk, invigorating passion with the restraint and planning of
logic, only then can systemic change actually happen, changing
perspectives, lifestyles, and futures.
Links:
My Water's On Fire Tonight (The
Fracking Song) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=timfvNgr_Q4
Maria Gunnoe- http://www.goldmanprize.org/2009/northamerica
Julia Bonds- http://www.goldmanprize.org/2003/northamerica
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