The Mining Community In West Virginia

This mining community in West Virginia is “stuck,” in a seemingly intractable conflict. The native community members that come from generations of minors are rooted in a mindset of “mining” as their only means of income. A few factors that are making this conflict seem intractable are the interdependence of the mining community and mountain top mining (MTM) companies in the area, a deep history of mining, and the lack of strong leadership from within the community. All of these factors fall into the systemic context of the conflict. According to Kriesberg and Dayton (2012), systemic context is “the social system within which the potential antagonists function” (p. 32-33). Within the systemic context of this conflict, scarcity, shared culture

Terry felt protective of her community and vocalized to Harley that she was not comfortable with having an outsider, “coming in and wanting to change their way of life.” Shane recently moved into the area and he claims that he found his passion against MTM after living in the town for some years. As a native, Terry did not find Shane’s company comforting and she felt like he should not be allowed to attend the PTA meetings. Interestingly, Shane ousted Denny, the principal of the school, for living almost 30 miles away. Clearly, Shane felt included within the community as he picked up on the social norms of the united community uncomfortable with foreign invaders. These are examples of how in-groups and out-groups are created within one community based on shared cultural

This was evident in the second PTA meeting when the community member were looking to Shane for options about what they could do. This indicates that the community members were accepting Shane as a part of their culture. He was now in the in-group. The community members were also ready form a social movement to get their immediate water problem resolved as well as making the long-term environment effects evident. Mobilizing is a shift in the distribution of dominant capacities in favor of the community. It is so difficult to gain power as a community due to the systemic factors of scarcity, shared culture and institutions, and the distribution of dominant capacities. The mindsets around the community’s interdependence with the mining companies, history of mining culture, and the lack of strong leadership from within the community needs to change. With a community unable to recognize these systemic factors, a leader will not emerge and mobilization may never be achieved. Only weeks upon week of PTA meetings will be held seeking an intangible