In her book, “Women, Power, and Dissent in the Hills of Carolina,” Mary Anglin describes the lives and work experiences of women employed in the mica industry of western North Carolina.  Mica was, and remains, crucial to war efforts as well as high tech industries and new medical technologies; one of the few domestic sources of the non-metallic mineral is Southern Appalachia. 

Through an ethnographic study situated in a factory and the surrounding community, Anglin describes the courage, resourcefulness and perseverance of women working in this labor-intensive industry.  Despite locally high unemployment rates and a political climate that privileged corporate policies over concerns about occupational hazards and workers’ rights, the women in “Moth Hill” drew upon regional traditions and informal agreements to fight for better pay and safer working conditions. 

Mary K. Anglin is an associate professor of anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky.  She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia, a master’s degree and doctorate from the New School for Research, and a master’s of public health in pidemiology from the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to culture, political economy and gendered relations of activism, Anglin’s current research interests include the intersections of medical anthropology and public health, breast cancer and reproductive health, and HIV/AIDS.