{"product_id":"im-afraid-of-that-water-a-collaborative-ethnography-of-a-west-virginia-water-crisis-9781949199376","title":"I'm Afraid of That Water: A Collaborative Ethnography of a West Virginia Water Crisis","description":"\u003cb\u003eWeatherford Award Winner, Nonfiction\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e On January 9, 2014, residents across Charleston, West Virginia, awoke to an unusual licorice smell in the air and a similar taste in the public drinking water. That evening residents were informed the tap water in tens of thousands of homes, hundreds of businesses, and dozens of schools and hospitals--the water made available to as many as 300,000 citizens in a nine-county region--had been contaminated with a chemical used for cleaning crushed coal. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e This book tells a particular set of stories about that chemical spill and its aftermath, an unfolding water crisis that would lead to months, even years, of fear and distrust. It is both oral history and collaborative ethnography, jointly conceptualized, researched, and written by people--more than fifty in all--across various positions in academia and local communities. \u003ci\u003eI'm Afraid of That Water\u003c\/i\u003e foregrounds the ongoing concerns of West Virginians (and people in comparable situations in places like Flint, Michigan) confronted by the problem of contamination, where thresholds for official safety may be crossed, but a genuine return to normality is elusive.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLuke Eric Lassiter is a professor of humanities and anthropology and director of the graduate humanities program at Marshall University. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eInvitation to Anthropology\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Chicago Guide to Collaborative Ethnography\u003c\/i\u003e, and, with Elizabeth Campbell, \u003ci\u003eDoing Ethnography Today.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Brian A. Hoey is a professor of anthropology and associate dean of the honors college at Marshall University and author of \u003ci\u003eOpting for Elsewhere.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Elizabeth Campbell is chair of the department of curriculum and instruction at Appalachian State University. She is the coeditor of \u003ci\u003eRe-imagining Contested Communities\u003c\/i\u003e and coauthor of \u003ci\u003eDoing Ethnography Today.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"West Virginia University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50368420708626,"sku":"9781949199376","price":27.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_9ccb783f-468d-4a1f-bd52-6d858eef4270.jpg?v=1728508308","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/im-afraid-of-that-water-a-collaborative-ethnography-of-a-west-virginia-water-crisis-9781949199376","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}