Workers, Nature, & Environmental Conflict in Pacific Northwest Timber Country

About This Event

In his new book Strong Winds and Widow Makers, Steven C. Beda challenges popular narratives about the clashes between timber workers, environmentalists, and employers. Highlighting the voices of timber workers themselves, Beda reveals a complex and nuanced history of timber-working communities and their connections to the environment, a relationship colored by class, community, understandings of nature, forest science, politics, popular culture, and economics. This in-depth look at workers embedded in the forest reveals an ethic of stewardship built around protecting jobs, protecting the forest, and protecting an important part of their own identities. 

Biography:

Steven C. Beda is an associate professor of History at the University of Oregon. His first book, Strong Winds and Widow Makers: Workers, Nature, and Environmental Conflict in Pacific Northwest Timber Country won the Philip Taft Labor History Book Prize and best debut book from the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association. His research focuses on Pacific Northwest history, labor history, and environmental history, specifically timber workers and the ways rural communities have adapted to the region’s changing economy.

Note: Lectures will have live captioning

This lecture is part of the History Forum series. Visit The History Forum landing page for more information.