The Mechanized Landscape : Statecraft and Environment in the Tennessee Valley

In 1933 the United States government created the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and gave it jurisdiction over a demarcated region – the watershed of the Tennessee.The TVA was authorised to develop the resources in the Valley and promote the welfare of its residents.The TVA pursued these goals by constructing three large-scale operations, referred as the river, land and power machines.The TVA also invested in social projects, including support for housing and tourist industries in the region.The Mechanized Landscape: Statecraft and Environment in the Tennessee Valley examines this comprehensive effort as a form of statecraft – the art of government persuasion and diplomacy – manifested through environmental transformation.It follows the TVA’s physical transformations and its investment in infrastructural power – programs that extended the state’s capacity to reach even the most remote residents.The product of this process, the mechanized landscape, is a testament to the TVA’s complex approach to democracy, its racial and middle-class biases, and its technical and managerial acumen.By bringing together original photography, newly created maps, and text, this book offers a well-researched, visually compelling appraisal of the TVA’s plans and their implementation.Rather than following a linear textual narrative, readers are invited to explore the complexity of the mechanized landscape through multiple media.