It Comes from the People: Community Development and Local Theology (review)

Abstract

every society has its equivalent of the hillbilly. For the English, it was the Irish; for the Irish, the lowland Scots. For the Chinese it is the shockingly backward peasants of Guizhou Province. "The Japanese have the 'hairy Ainus,' middle Europe has the mountain-dwelling Slovaks, the Iranians and the Iraqis have the mountain Kurds." Our ambiguity about them is such that hillbillies are not only the toothless primitives of Deliverance but also figures like the patriotic and God-fearing World War I hero, Sgt. Alvin York. The hillbilly is both monster and alien—an American Darth Vader in touch with the Force (nature)—as well as occasional hero and often eerily familiar comic fool. He (or she) may elicit in us fear, envy, condescension, or a "secret dread . . . that the dark, drunken hillbilly is no Other, but us." As clown the hillbilly is "an impudent mirror held up in front of us—both a reflection of and a window into something rarely glimpsed, the native deep and sable face of this creature we still are." The hillbilly figure is not always there for mainstream America to poke fun at or condescend to. Just as often the hillbilly (male or female) amounts to a rebuke or challenge to mainstream attitudes, institutions and values. Williamson quotes with approval the mass media critic Horace Newcomb, who writes: "I think it is possible to demonstrate that the larger [American] populace has historically used Appalachia for that liminal ground on which to criticize its own values, to challenge the 'acceptable' way of life with other attitudes. . . . The real thrust of condemnation in such a presentation is not against the Southern mountaineer , but against contemporary American culture." Both entertaining and instructive, Williamson's Hillbillyland illustrates that while we may be familiar with something, we may not understand it very well. Hillbillyland allows us to revisit movies seen a long time ago, or recently, and to gain a new perspective on hillbillies presented as clowns, children, free spirits, and wild people. Students of popular culture and the several branches of American literature (including Appalachian literature) are likely to find Hillbillyland useful for years to come. —Jim Wayne Miller Mary Ann Hinsdale, Helen M. Lewis, and S. Maxine Waller. It Comes from the People: Community Development and Local Theology. Philadelphia : Temple University Press, 1995. 400 pages. Hardcover, $49.95; Paperback, $19.95. 65 This is an important and honest study of a community in turmoil, and the efforts made to rebuild and revive it. Divided into two sections, this work explores the historical and religious elements of the local movement created by the people of Ivanhoe, Virginia, to regain control their own lives. The authors are a professor of religious studies, an activist and scholar, and a community leader. This unusual combination of talents and perspectives creates a dynamic tension that produces many surprises and a sense of ongoing creativity. The first half of the book is a collaborative history ofthe community produced by Helen M. Lewis and S. Maxine Waller. Their narrative indicates that Ivanhoe was an industrial community in a rural setting that was ethnically diverse and dependent upon outside corporations for the economic health of the community. National Carbide and New Jersey Zinc exploited both the natural resources and the people of the region while providing steady employment until the 1970s. For ten years between 1976 and 1986, the town experienced substantial economic decline. The loss of community schools and local businesses destroyed the cohesion that had been an important part of the town's life. This section of the study comes alive through the use of selected interviews with local people that create the sense of emotional loss that accompanied the dramatic economic and social changes. Starting in 1986, the people of the town began a conscious effort to seize control of their own destiny. Starting with a human chain called "Hands Across Ivanhoe," local leaders, along with outside activists, sought to create an organization to restore the area. The Ivanhoe Civic League was formed, and it acted as a pressure group on local government , as an adult education center, as a community development office, and as a consciousness-raising organization. Maxine Waller...