All That Is Native and Fine: The Politics of Culture in an American Region

In the early part of the 20th century, northerners headed to the Appalachian Mountains to establish programs that Whisnant termed "systemic cultural intervention." This phrase refers to projects designed to affect change in a community through new forms of cultural programming. The intervention can be in the best interests of the community, or the intervention program can reflect primarily the goals and aspirations of the interveners. It can have positive and negative effects, and the interveners frequently create unintended consequences in the host communities. This important rubric provides a fascinating way to look at the impact of settlement schools and a folk festival in the mountains. Whisnant's analysis is interesting and provocative and well-worth considering when one is working in a community.

David Whisnant coined the term the "politics of culture." He provides an application of a theory of "systemic cultural intervention" in this book. Essentially, Whisnant argues that cultural intervention is a process in which specialists work to create change in a community. He looks at ways that positive interventions can bring about positive as well as negative effects. He also provides ways to examine how cultural intervention can be developed for negative purposes. Whisnant is a folklorist, and he examines how wealthy northerners went to Appalachia to promopte folklife programming in settlement schools and festivals. The book is very useful for examining how outside interventionists need to understand the culture and political dynamics in communities that they enter. At times, however, there is a degree of cynicism in Whisnant's writing that seems to emerge from a nativist stance by Whisnant himself. The lines he draws between "outsider" and "insider" are too neat and rigid, and the analysis would be improved by recognition that the case histories that he examines had far more complex issues at stake. Nevertheless, I highly recommend reading this work to understand fascinating aspects of Appalachian history and to consider ways to work more effectively in contemporary communities.