By Richard LeComte 

LEXINGTON, KY. -- A new book edited by University of Kentucky faculty offers hope, in a variety of ways, to the people of a post-coal and deindustrialized Appalachia. 

“Toward Just Transitions: Visions for Regenerative Communities in Appalachia,” published by the University Press of Kentucky, tackles such issues as food, health, race and philanthropy in a series of essays. 

“The Just Transition movement has to do with the decline of coal mining and other sorts of natural resource-producing, energy-producing and exporting industries," said Shaunna Scott, Ph.D., emerita associate professor of sociology in UK's College of Arts and Sciences co-editor of the book. "The transition is happening because of market factors primarily and efforts to combat climate change. So how do you get ahead of this transition or cope with it in a way that doesn't harm the workers of the industries that are now declining and the communities that have built their economies and lives and cultures around them?” 

Scott and her co-editor, Kathryn Engle, Ph.D., director of UK’s Appalachian Center, said they wanted to draw from the research of a variety of authors to bring both historical and contemporary perspectives to the issues facing the region. The book contains three main themes, each with its own set of essays: 

• “Democratization and Equity: Meaningful Participation for All.” 

• “Regeneration: Land, Food and Health.” 

• “Strategies for Advancing Just Transitions.” 

Scott stresses the fact that Appalachia has changed a great deal in the past, and its people can change again according to their contemporary needs — this time in fairer ways beneficial to residents and the environment. 

“Appalachia is not a place that’s frozen in time, but it has a history,” Scott said. “People didn't just land there and stay the same forever. We've had a lot of transitions unfold in this geographic space, and most of them have not been handled in a way that resulted in justice. Now we can see this one coming, so let's try to work together to think about what kinds of policies and practices that are healthier for the environment and healthier for the people.” 

Scott said she started putting the book together by putting out a call for chapter proposals through the Appalachian studies networks, Appalachian activist networks and the internet. The result: She received articles from a range of experts and organizers addressing how to build networks, equitable land ownership, local food systems and community-controlled philanthropy.  

"We put forth a vision of the book and invited people to share their theories and thoughts as well as what their groups were doing,” she said. “Anybody who thought that they had an interest in that topic, or they were devoting their lives, or their activism or their careers to that topic. I received a lot of proposals. “ 

One article covers how Appalachian food producers can transition to the “localvore” movement. Kathryn Engle wrote the chapter “Seeding Just Transitions Through Local Food and Agriculture Systems” with local advocates Elyzabeth Engle, Candace Mullins, Martin Richards and Magge Smith Moseley.    

"My chapter was written collaboratively with some folks from the Grow Appalachia Community Farm Alliance, who have been doing really good work,” Kathryn Engle said. “I also talked about my work in Knox County with the Knox County Farmers Market. I’m working at a grassroots level with community members. One of the main threads in just transition overall has to do with localization — or, as I would argue, re-localization.” 

Overall, the book presents positive proposals in the face of hardship; the authors hope implementing these ideas will help the people of Appalachia embrace a bright and more just future. 

"I see this as a way to be proactive, to imagine those possibilities instead of focusing on the negative,” she said. “How can we attack these problems in a positive way to enact the structural changes that need to be done that relate to social justice issues?” 

In addition to Engle and Scott, UK contributors are: 

• Dwight Billings, Ph.D., professor emeritus of sociology.  

• Frances Henderson, Ph.D., associate professor of gender and women’s studies.  

• Lora Smith-Tovar, an MFA Student. 

• Julie Shepherd-Powell, UK alum. 

• Martin Richards UK alum. 

• Douglas Scutchfield, M.D., a former UK faculty member who died in 2022.  

• Ivy Brashear, a doctoral student.