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"Power serves to create power. Powerlessness serves to re-enforce powerlessness"(Gaventa,1980:256). Such is the essence of the on going relationship between the Powerful and the Powerless of the Appalachian Valley where acquiescence of the repressed has become not only common practice but a way of life and a means of survival. In his novel Power and Powerlessness, John Gaventa examines the oppressive and desperate situation of the Appalachian coal miners under the autocratic power of …

…form of political and ideological constructs resulted "in a shaping and influencing away from (the mountaineer's) 'stock' to participation in the ways and values of the new order"(Gaventa,1980:68). Conformity to the extent where contradictions of conscience go unnoticed because workers are no longer certain of their orientation occurred repeatedly and was the main reason challenge was rare. It must be noted, however, that the workers of Middlesborough were not completely inact -------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**