During the past several decades, globalization forces in general and mechanization of coal mining jobs more specifically have sharply changed the economic and social conditions of many of the coal towns in the Central Appalachian region of the United States. Efforts to identify and seek alternatives to replace the ongoing decline of their traditional way of life are deeply entangled with community identity and culture due to the historical hegemonic role and power of coal mining and other extractive industries and their critical role in forming residents' identities.
Many of the small communities in this region are pursuing initiatives to highlight their natural and cultural assets in efforts to develop tourism as a new foundation for their economies. However, to avoid tourism simply becoming another extractive industry, researchers and practitioners have suggested that these communities must develop capacity to participate in and take ownership of tourism-related decision-making processes. In an effort to examine the dynamics of one such effort in detail this study drew on Community Capacity theory as interpreted by Chaskin (2001a) to explore the relationships between Community Cultural Development (CCD) and the sustainability of tourism in a small town located in Central Appalachia seeking to transition to a visitor-based economy.
This dissertation explored whether and in what ways engaging in CCD projects and community capacity are related and identified ways such interactions influence the sustainability of tourism. Along with personal observation and a review of relevant archival data, I conducted 10 semi-structured interviews with a sample of individuals from a community cultural development organization regarding their efforts to build possibilities for sustainable tourism in their rural jurisdiction.
This study's findings contribute to the existing literature by suggesting Chaskin's framework of community capacity as an apt model for charting progress towards sustainable community-based tourism. Moreover, this research found that employing CCD methods can enhance community capacity by encouraging a sense of shared identity among the group's members and through them among a broader cross-section of residents. Lastly, this inquiry suggested that CCD contributed to the sustainability of tourism in the case study community by increasing residents' effective participation in decision-making processes concerning such efforts, encouraging locals' partnership and ownership of tourism development projects and providing space for negotiating the tourist gaze in guest-host relationships. / Doctor of Philosophy / Since at least the late 1960s and the advent of the ongoing decline of mining, the populations of many small coal-dependent towns in Central Appalachia have fallen into economic hardship (e.g., high rates of poverty, too few and/or inadequate jobs and public services), now confront a range of social issues arising from that harsh reality (e.g., youth out-migration, rapidly aging populations, the current opioid epidemic). In response to those conditions, many affected communities are investing in their wealth of natural resources and unique cultural assets to promote tourism as a palliative, if not replacement, for their previous economies.
Tourism has the potential to reduce poverty and to boost shared prosperity among host communities, but it also, if poorly managed, could become another extractive industry. This study focused on the ways that residents in one Central Appalachian community have individually and as groups sought to assume ownership of their area's tourism-related efforts. I specifically analyzed participation in that jurisdiction's cultural activities (e.g., community theatre and story circles) to understand whether and how involvement in them affected participants' awareness of their capability to address the conditions in their community.
My interviews with 10 active participants in my sample community's collective cultural projects revealed that residents did come to perceive themselves as possessing capacity as individuals and as groups to address the challenges that have arisen in their community as its traditional economy has declined. This study also found that participants in culture-based group activities were better prepared to participate effectively in tourism-related decision-making processes in their community. Indeed, many of those I interviewed have become owners and/or partners in tourism development projects because of the information and networks they developed during their participation in cultural activities. Finally, this analysis found that community cultural activities created a space for residents to interact regardless of their socio-economic status, ideological predisposition or other characteristics; an outcome that interviewees indicated they had come to cherish.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/105145 |
| Date | 10 April 2020 |
| Creators | Moayerian, Neda |
| Contributors | Public Administration/Public Affairs, Stephenson, Max O. Jr., McGehee, Nancy G., Harrison, Anthony Kwame, Zanotti, Laura |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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