A New Institutionalist History of Appalshop: Exploring the Agential Dynamics of an Appalachian Community Cultural Development Organization Sarah E. Lyon-Hill Dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In Planning, Governance and Globalization Max O. Stephenson, Jr. Chair Robert H. Leonard Kim L. Niewolny A. Scott Tate November 18, 2019 Blacksburg, VA Keywords: New Institutionalism, Fields, Agency, Community Cultural Development, Arts Organizations, Appalachia Copyright © 2019 A New Institutionalist History of Appalshop: Exploring the Agential Dynamics of an Appalachian Community Cultural Development Organization Sarah Lyon-Hill ABSTRACT This research draws on New Institutionalist theory as interpreted by Fligstein and McAdam (2012) to explore the relationship between structure and agency within one nonprofit organization, Appalshop, located in Central Appalachia. Since 1969, Appalshop has worked with peer institutions to form a larger community cultural development (CCD) field, characterized by actors that value the potential of art and cultural activities to create space for individual and collective imagining and reimagining of communities. Through an exploration of archival documents and interviews with 18 current and former Appalshop staff, I analyzed the organization’s 50-year evolution. I identified ways in which Appalshop has operated in the midst of different enabling and inhibiting structural forces, how its staff has sought to assert agency by contesting or circumventing those extant forces, and how the ensuing tensions have shaped the organization’s approach to social change. During its evolution, Appalshop can be seen as having gone through four different stages characterized by changing national policy and culture as well as the actions of different generations of Appalshop staff. In order to withstand the growth of neoliberalism, changing technology and regional socioeconomic circumstance, Appalshop staff have had to adapt the organization’s modus operandi to one that is more region facing and service based. A New Institutionalist History of Appalshop: Exploring the Agential Dynamics of an Appalachian Community Cultural Development Organization Sarah Lyon-Hill GENERAL AUDIENCE ABSTRACT Appalshop is a community cultural development organization located in central Appalachia. Community cultural development (CCD) is characterized by actors that value the potential of art and cultural activities to create space for individual and collective reimagining of communities. Founded in 1969, Appalshop and its staff have approached CCD in many ways, including through media production, youth education, theater and community organizing and, more recently, through community economic development. I explored Appalshop’s evolution and sought to assess the ways in which this arts nonprofit has reacted to changing circumstances nationally and within its region, how those external forces have influenced the organization, and how its staff members have worked to contest forces that inhibited their organization’s avowed mission and preferred activities. I used New Institutionalist theory, an analytic framework that emphasizes the need to explore the different fields of influence on any organization as well as the individual actors within that entity who, through their drive to create and perpetuate shared social meaning, may adopt or contest the narratives of external fields. I employed new institutionalism to make sense of the factors that have shaped Appalshop’s trajectory as an institution to date. During its evolution, Appalshop has experienced four different stages characterized by changing national policy and culture as well as the actions of different generations of Appalshop staff. To withstand the growth of neoliberalism, changing technology and regional socioeconomic circumstances, Appalshop staff have had to adapt the organization’s established modus operandi to one that is more region facing and service based. Dedication To my family: Janet, Jim, Samantha, Jessie, Eric and my newest family member, Gavin. Thank you for your continued support and love throughout my life. iv Acknowledgements This dissertation was a very lengthy process that required the assistance and support of many wonderful people whom I am privileged to have met. First and foremost, this research would not have been possible without the incredibly amazing work and efforts of Appalshop staff during the 50 years of the organization’s life. The fact that a handful of the nonprofit’s founding generation, in particular, have tirelessly worked there since the nonprofit’s inception is an illustration of their passion and dedication to the work and to their regional community. I would like to express my appreciation to those at Appalshop and many of Appalshop’s former staff for working with me so openly and taking the time to provide me materials and thoughtful reflections on their time with the organization. Thank you in particular to Donna Porterfield for feeding and housing me when I visited (not to mention your delightful company), Dudley Cocke and Ben Fink for providing helpful input throughout my inquiry and Caroline Rubens for providing me access to the plethora of archival documents that Appalshop has collected since 1969. I would also like to thank my committee chair and advisor, Max Stephenson, for his continued support of my work during my time as a graduate student at Virginia Tech. You have challenged me to think very deeply and deliberately about so many aspects of my work and broader society. I am grateful that I have had the opportunity to learn from and work with such a thoughtful, eloquent and compassionate person. Thank you also to my entire dissertation committee members. You have been very patient with me, and I have appreciated your kind and thoughtful suggestions regarding my work. As a group, your deep knowledge, determination and deliberate approach to your work is awe-inspiring, and I hope to do at least half as well in my own career. Many of my friends and family also helped me tremendously during this dissertation process. I would like to thank my parents, Jessie, Samantha and Audrey for taking the time to help me with my transcriptions, with editing my drafts, and by providing sage advice and words of encouragement. Thank you to many of my peers and friends in my PhD program—Hye-Jeong, Huyen, Neda and Reza—for being my study buddies and support group. I would not have been nearly as productive without you. Thank you as well to my friends and colleagues at the Virginia Tech Office of Economic Development—particularly John, Scott, Elli and Doris. You have taught me so much and have been incredibly supportive during this endeavor, particularly within this last year as my focus on this work has challenged my normal 120% focus on my office responsibilities. Finally, I would not have made it into a PhD program without two groups of people who have always inspired me to try to do better. First, thank you again to my parents who have always encouraged me both by example and through their advice. Second, I would like to thank the Frenchies, a group of incredibly driven, strong and intelligent women. I was a bit of a slacker before your examples made me realize I could do more. v Table of Contents Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. v Glossary of Terms .............................................................................................................. ix Timeline of Appalshop’s Evolution .................................................................................. xv Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 Defining Community Cultural Development.................................................................. 7 Exploring the Agential Possibilities of Appalshop as a Community Cultural Development Organization ........................................................................................... 15 Dissertation Organization ............................................................................................. 16 Chapter 2: Literature Review ............................................................................................ 18 Defining Fields, Institutional Logics and Actors .......................................................... 19 Suggested Approach to New Institutionalism............................................................... 23 The Mutability of Institutional Logics .......................................................................... 24 The Influence of External Fields ................................................................................... 25 Accounting for Political Agency .................................................................................. 28 Maintaining and Contesting Power in Fields ................................................................ 31 Chapter 3: Research Design and Methods ........................................................................ 36 Critical Realist Ontology .............................................................................................. 39 Research Question .......................................................................................................