Fighting king coal: the challenges to micromobilization in central Appalachia

In the coal-mining region of Central Appalachia, mountaintop-removal mining and coal-industry-related flooding, water contamination, and illness have led to the emergence of a grassroots, women-driven environmental justice movement.

But the number of local activists is small relative to the affected population, and recruiting movement participants from within the region is an ongoing challenge.

In 'Fighting King Coal', Shannon Elizabeth Bell examines an understudied puzzle within social movement theory: why so few of the many people who suffer from industry-produced environmental hazards and pollution rise up to participate in social movements aimed at bringing about social justice and industry accountability.