The Dam Fighters: Commons Environmental Rhetoric,  Rhetorical Citizenship, and Local Ethos

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dc.contributor.authorMurray, Savannah Paigeen
dc.contributor.committeechairPowell, Katrina M.en
dc.contributor.committeememberCommer, Carolynen
dc.contributor.committeememberCarter-Tod, Sheila L.en
dc.contributor.committeememberPender, Kelly E.en
dc.contributor.departmentEnglishen
dc.date.accessioned2020-11-12T09:00:20Zen
dc.date.available2020-11-12T09:00:20Zen
dc.date.issued2020-11-11en
dc.description.abstractIn this dissertation project, I examine the ways in which a grassroots environmental organization, the Upper French Broad Defense Association (UFBDA), was able to contribute knowledge and voice concerns regarding a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) proposal between 1961 and 1972. The TVA proposal included a plan for comprehensive water resource development in western North Carolina which would have required in the implementation of 14 dams, flooding of more than 18,000 fertile agricultural acres and displacing 600 families from their ancestral homes. Employing archival research methods, in this dissertation I analyze the UFBDA's everyday rhetorical tactics which contributed to their overall success in preventing the implementation of the TVA project. I situate archival sources alongside contemporary scholarship in democratic practice, environmental rhetoric, rhetorical citizenship, and ethos, as discussed in rhetoric and writing studies. Overall, this dissertation demonstrates the ways in which the UFBDA case study offers a generative model for future environmental controversies, providing specific techniques which can contribute to the success of grassroots organizations mired in environmental controversies and contentious decisions.en
dc.description.abstractgeneralIn this dissertation project, I examine the ways in which a grassroots environmental organization, the Upper French Broad Defense Association (UFBDA), was able to contribute knowledge and voice concerns regarding a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) proposal between 1961 and 1972. The TVA proposal included a plan for comprehensive water resource development in western North Carolina which would have required in the implementation of 14 dams, flooding of more than 18,000 fertile agricultural acres and displacing 600 families from their ancestral homes. In order to complete this dissertation project, I explored two archival collections pertaining to the UFBDA. Based on my findings in the archives, I provide new understandings of how grassroots environmentalism works, particularly in terms of how environmentalists use language in order to participate in decisions about the environment. More specifically, this dissertation documents how members of the UFBDA were able to describe the western North Carolina landscape as a commons and not a wilderness, work together across counties to create new opportunities to share their concerns over the TVA project, and establish their own credibility as knowledgeable citizens about their local environment. By highlighting specific components of the UFBDA's work, this dissertation provides examples that can be used by future grassroots environmental organization facing similar challenges regarding environmental controversies.en
dc.description.degreeDoctor of Philosophyen
dc.format.mediumETDen
dc.identifier.othervt_gsexam:28101en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/100838en
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectrhetorical theoryen
dc.subjectgrassrootsen
dc.subjectactivismen
dc.subjectenvironmentalismen
dc.subjectAppalachiaen
dc.subjectriversen
dc.subjectTennessee Valley Authorityen
dc.subjectarchivesen
dc.subjectenvironmentalisten
dc.subjectdemocracyen
dc.titleThe Dam Fighters: Commons Environmental Rhetoric,  Rhetorical Citizenship, and Local Ethosen
dc.typeDissertationen
thesis.degree.disciplineRhetoric and Writingen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.leveldoctoralen
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen

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