Betsy Taylor
By training and personality, I am a cultural anthropologist, but most of my work has been within richly interdisciplinary programs – in social theory, cultural & gender studies, Appalachian Studies. Since 2015, I have been Executive Director of the Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network (LiKEN) www.likenknowledge.org. At the University of Kentucky, I served as Co‐Director of Environmental Studies, Research Director for the Appalachian Center and on the faculty of the Social Theory program, and during my years at Virginia Tech, I was a research faculty member in the Appalachian Studies program. I served on the steering committee of the US Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (USEITI), from 2013-17, and was chair of the Human Rights / Social Justice Committee of the Society for Applied Anthropology from 2014-2017.
I have worked with many action projects for community-driven, integrated development – including health, agriculture, forestry, culture and environmental stewardship – primarily in Appalachia and South Asia. Recent writing focuses on environmental and social justice movements, democratic planning & participatory research, gender, the commons, democratic reclamation of academe / professions – with a particular concern for regions directly affected by coal and other extractive industries.
I believe scholarly/cultural work has to keep striving for a kind of "ecological balance" between theory and practice. Theory without practical experience withers into esoteric abstraction. Practice, always encountering change, needs theory to refresh itself and to avoid losing sight of key questions.
The commons is become the key way for me to understand both the dangers and the possibilities of our time– as Herbert Reid & I explore in our book, RECOVERING THE COMMONS: DEMOCRACY, PLACE, AND GLOBAL JUSTICE (Univ of Illinois Press, 2010). Enclosure, for hundreds of years, has rewritten society – in cultural, economic, political, ecological dimensions. Work with grassroots justice movements shows that urgent practical dangers of inequality and mal-development are deeply connected with philosophic deformations of professionalism and academe. In our book, Herbert Reid & I draw on grassroots justice struggles globally to develop a feminist theory of the commons as dynamic articulation of systems of reproduction and production. Drawing especially on philosophic insights of Merleau-Ponty and John Dewey, we try to reclaim the knowledge commons, and, to chart the deformations of American political history – in order to build platforms for global solidarity in a commons movement that integrates diverse political issues.
As I have become politically and intellectually awake as a commoner, I have understood that this consciousness arises from hard-to-speak, unconscious experiences of childhood and the material practices of daily life. Our knowledge of the commons arises from deep bodily knowing of ourselves as dynamic, changing points of intersection in the circling of life and death. Through fiction and memoir, I am now deepening my dynamic awareness of place and commons – partly through the displacements of my own life. I was born in India (to American parents) and spent half my childhood in northern India, and, many years of travel globally.
WHERE I WORK & ON WHAT: Appalachia and south Asia, environmental and social movements, civil society and globalization, environmental imaginaries and identities, land-use and community forestry, global regional studies, democratic public space, qualitative research methods, participatory action research, public involvement and deliberation, performative construction of identity (gender, class, place, ethnicity, religion),
MY THEORETICAL EXPERTISE:critical development studies, gender studies, social theory, continental philosophy (particularly Heidegger and Ricoeur), narrative and performance theory, structuralism and post-structuralism, political economy of gender, feminist epistemology, discourse analysis, ethnological theories of ritual and religious cosmogenesis
Phone: 859-523-5056
Address: LiKEN
109 Rosemont Garden
Lexington, KY 40503
I have worked with many action projects for community-driven, integrated development – including health, agriculture, forestry, culture and environmental stewardship – primarily in Appalachia and South Asia. Recent writing focuses on environmental and social justice movements, democratic planning & participatory research, gender, the commons, democratic reclamation of academe / professions – with a particular concern for regions directly affected by coal and other extractive industries.
I believe scholarly/cultural work has to keep striving for a kind of "ecological balance" between theory and practice. Theory without practical experience withers into esoteric abstraction. Practice, always encountering change, needs theory to refresh itself and to avoid losing sight of key questions.
The commons is become the key way for me to understand both the dangers and the possibilities of our time– as Herbert Reid & I explore in our book, RECOVERING THE COMMONS: DEMOCRACY, PLACE, AND GLOBAL JUSTICE (Univ of Illinois Press, 2010). Enclosure, for hundreds of years, has rewritten society – in cultural, economic, political, ecological dimensions. Work with grassroots justice movements shows that urgent practical dangers of inequality and mal-development are deeply connected with philosophic deformations of professionalism and academe. In our book, Herbert Reid & I draw on grassroots justice struggles globally to develop a feminist theory of the commons as dynamic articulation of systems of reproduction and production. Drawing especially on philosophic insights of Merleau-Ponty and John Dewey, we try to reclaim the knowledge commons, and, to chart the deformations of American political history – in order to build platforms for global solidarity in a commons movement that integrates diverse political issues.
As I have become politically and intellectually awake as a commoner, I have understood that this consciousness arises from hard-to-speak, unconscious experiences of childhood and the material practices of daily life. Our knowledge of the commons arises from deep bodily knowing of ourselves as dynamic, changing points of intersection in the circling of life and death. Through fiction and memoir, I am now deepening my dynamic awareness of place and commons – partly through the displacements of my own life. I was born in India (to American parents) and spent half my childhood in northern India, and, many years of travel globally.
WHERE I WORK & ON WHAT: Appalachia and south Asia, environmental and social movements, civil society and globalization, environmental imaginaries and identities, land-use and community forestry, global regional studies, democratic public space, qualitative research methods, participatory action research, public involvement and deliberation, performative construction of identity (gender, class, place, ethnicity, religion),
MY THEORETICAL EXPERTISE:critical development studies, gender studies, social theory, continental philosophy (particularly Heidegger and Ricoeur), narrative and performance theory, structuralism and post-structuralism, political economy of gender, feminist epistemology, discourse analysis, ethnological theories of ritual and religious cosmogenesis
Phone: 859-523-5056
Address: LiKEN
109 Rosemont Garden
Lexington, KY 40503
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Books by Betsy Taylor
ty to sets of interchangeable components. Instead, they reconcile complementary pairs such as mind/body and society/nature in the reclamation of public space.
With its analysis embedded in philosophical and material contexts, this penetrating work culls key concepts from grassroots activism to hold critical social theory accountable to the needs, ideas, and organizational practices of the global justice movement. The resulting critique of neoliberalism hinges on place-based struggles of groups marginalized by globalization and represents a brave rethinking of politics, economy, culture, and professionalism.
Papers by Betsy Taylor
post-carbon economic transition with socioecological healing
of the legacy damages concatenating from the fossil fuel era.
What political and knowledge structures do we need to create
integrated solutions to both of these challenges? In this paper, we
draw lessons from grassroots social and environmental justice
movements in Appalachia that seek post-coal economic transition. This article is in two parts. The first part analyzes participatory action research on regional economic transition conducted
by the Economic Transition team of the Alliance for Appalachia
(a regional coalition of sixteen grassroots organizations) from
2013 through 2015. Part 2 of this article looks at the Alliance’s
work from 2016 to the present (and will appear in a future issue
of this journal).
Intro to article by Mark Schuller
Chair Human Rights and Social Justice Committee
The Human Rights and Social Justice Committee is exploring policy options and best practices for how our meetings interface with social justice, particularly for hotel workers. As with most academic institutions, good policies come out of thoughtful discussion following a crisis of conscience.
Betsy Taylor has spent considerable time conducting research on these best practices. We submit them here in an attempt to engender principled dialogue.
The Human Rights and Social Justice Committee has proposed a session in Denver to discuss our praxis as a scholarly association. All members are invited.
[AMPP] is a grassroots-driven inventory of musical
assets and needs in Pike County which tries to ‘look
through the eyes’ of local musicians, to understand
the dreams and needs of local musicians in their
own words and on their own terms. Pike County has
a remarkable musical heritage which, we believe,
can be at the center of plans for social and economic
development in the 21st century. AMPP provides
a uniquely local and grass-rooted view of how of
the treasures of local music can be integrated into
community-based planning for cultural heritage
tourism and local economic revitalization. We do not
know of any other study of Appalachian music which
has been conducted from the point of view of local
musicians and communities.
ty to sets of interchangeable components. Instead, they reconcile complementary pairs such as mind/body and society/nature in the reclamation of public space.
With its analysis embedded in philosophical and material contexts, this penetrating work culls key concepts from grassroots activism to hold critical social theory accountable to the needs, ideas, and organizational practices of the global justice movement. The resulting critique of neoliberalism hinges on place-based struggles of groups marginalized by globalization and represents a brave rethinking of politics, economy, culture, and professionalism.
post-carbon economic transition with socioecological healing
of the legacy damages concatenating from the fossil fuel era.
What political and knowledge structures do we need to create
integrated solutions to both of these challenges? In this paper, we
draw lessons from grassroots social and environmental justice
movements in Appalachia that seek post-coal economic transition. This article is in two parts. The first part analyzes participatory action research on regional economic transition conducted
by the Economic Transition team of the Alliance for Appalachia
(a regional coalition of sixteen grassroots organizations) from
2013 through 2015. Part 2 of this article looks at the Alliance’s
work from 2016 to the present (and will appear in a future issue
of this journal).
Intro to article by Mark Schuller
Chair Human Rights and Social Justice Committee
The Human Rights and Social Justice Committee is exploring policy options and best practices for how our meetings interface with social justice, particularly for hotel workers. As with most academic institutions, good policies come out of thoughtful discussion following a crisis of conscience.
Betsy Taylor has spent considerable time conducting research on these best practices. We submit them here in an attempt to engender principled dialogue.
The Human Rights and Social Justice Committee has proposed a session in Denver to discuss our praxis as a scholarly association. All members are invited.
[AMPP] is a grassroots-driven inventory of musical
assets and needs in Pike County which tries to ‘look
through the eyes’ of local musicians, to understand
the dreams and needs of local musicians in their
own words and on their own terms. Pike County has
a remarkable musical heritage which, we believe,
can be at the center of plans for social and economic
development in the 21st century. AMPP provides
a uniquely local and grass-rooted view of how of
the treasures of local music can be integrated into
community-based planning for cultural heritage
tourism and local economic revitalization. We do not
know of any other study of Appalachian music which
has been conducted from the point of view of local
musicians and communities.
Key Words: democracy • place • class • Appalachia • networked governance • commons • public forests • regional civil society • environmental conflict • local knowledge
authors: JOHNSTON, Barbara Rose (Ctr for Political Ecology), McKinney, Bill (CUNY Grad
Ctr), SCHULLER, Mark (York Coll-CUNY), STONICH, Susan (UC-Santa Barbara), and
TAYLOR, Betsy (VT)
Title: Beyond the IRB: Expert advice on the realities, risks, and benefits in performing Human
Rights and Social Justice Research
Graduate students preparing for research on human rights and social justice issues can benefit
from the expertise of senior anthropologists on the realities, risks, and benefits of performing
such work. This workshop brings together accomplished advocates who work in the U.S.,
abroad, within major institutions, or at the grassroots level. They will describe their experiences,
the positive outcomes and obstacles to meeting their objectives, and the key elements in their HR
& SJ toolbox. Students may describe their research proposal/dissertation prospectus and ask the
panel for advice (e.g., on balancing theory and praxis, establishing networks, and negotiating
with gatekeepers).
Nov. 18, 2010, 2-4 PM, Gaines Center, University of Kentucky
Hosted by the UK Appalachian Research Community and the UK Political Ecology Working Group:
Betsy Taylor will report on an international gathering which invited key activists, practitioners, leaders and scholars on the commons with the goal of “Constructing a Commons-Based Policy Platform”. In diverse settings around the world, the “commons” are emerging as a way to solve urgent 21st century problems. Under the sponsorship of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, this conference brought together 190 people from 32 countries, in Berlin, Germany from Oct 31-Nov 2, 2010. It was a remarkable gathering – which galvanized alliances between diverse social, political and intellectual movements from all parts of the world. The conference wiki can be found at http://p2pfoundation.net/Berlin_Commons_Conference .
Commons are self-governing systems for handling goods that are shared and/or basic to life. The digital revolution has brought new commons into being – such as the Internet, free/ open software, wikipedia, etc. And, diverse political movements are growing, to defend key ecological and cultural resources as commons and non-privatizable – such as water, air, health, creative arts and scholarship, etc. Scholarly study of the “commons” has disproven Garrett Hardin's argument that there is a necessary “tragedy of the commons”. Recent scholarship (such as that of Nobel laureate Elinor Ostrom) demonstrates the effectiveness of many traditional commons – such as indigenous people's systems for managing forests, watersheds, cultural creativity.
As an invited delegate to the conference, Betsy Taylor will report on the event as well as on the important new networks, projects and policy-recommendations it generated. She is co-author, with Herbert Reid, of the recently published, Recovering the Commons: Democracy, Place, and Global Justice and Senior Research Scholar with the Alliance for Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought at Virginia Tech.
For further details contact:
Amanda Fickey, UK Appalachian Research Community, [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
or Brian Grabbatin, UK Political Ecology Working Group, [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>