The Myth of the Asturian Radical Miner during the Decarbonisation

The world economy, in the 20th century, went through several energy transitions from charcoal to natural gas, and currently there is a transition to a low-carbon future. The international community is actively promoting the idea of decarbonization, which implies a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. Although the current level of technology development does not allow abandoning the use of traditional energy sources, a general Western European tendency has already emerged to gradually abandon coal energy, driving the coal industry into another deep crisis. Coal mining is at the heart of the economic and social development of Asturias, and the miners' labor movement was the main social and political pillar of the region throughout the 20th century. Industrial disputes with mining companies and the government, high-profile miners' strikes and radicalism as an important component of the professional identity of miners around the world throughout the 20th century, have created the mythological image of the radical miner. This is the most militant segment of the labor movement, and the influence of the miners' trade unions has turned miners into leaders of leftist movements in many countries. The difficult and dangerous nature of work in an unfavorable environment connects the world history of coal mining with the trade union organizations of miners, the development of mining culture, which at the present time is already considered as an intangible heritage, and since the last third of the 20th century, with the corporate social responsibility of mining companies. Using the method of media analysis, a study of the current situation in the coal industry of Asturias and the vitality of the myth about the radical miner was carried out. Undoubtedly, decarbonization complicates the situation in the coal industry, but the task of the trade unions is precisely to minimize risks for people, to increase the possibility of maintaining wages, retraining, and finding new jobs. Drawing the attention of the state to these problems can help prevent social explosions and harmonize relations in society. But in modern conditions, miners, whose future is ambiguous, no longer possess that mythologized vital force, as it was in the 20th century, but rather depend on the efficiency of communications of the state, mining companies and trade unions.

Keywords

Decarbonization, Coal Industry, Mineworkers Movements, Radical Miner, Mining Trade Unions, Asturias, Miners Strikes, CSR of Coal Mining Companies, Asturian Mineworkers Union (SOMA), Mining Identity, Mining Culture

Received

08.01.2021

Publication date

15.04.2021

Number of characters

51543

Cite

GOST	Koroleva A., Smolskaya E., Bogdanova D. The Myth of the Asturian Radical Miner during the Decarbonisation // ISTORIYA – 2021. – V. 12. – Issue 3 (101) [Electronic resource]. URL: https://history.jes.su/S207987840014879-5-1 (circulation date: 04.05.2024). DOI: 10.18254/S207987840014879-5
MLA	Koroleva, Alina, Smolskaya, Elena, Bogdanova, Danaya "The Myth of the Asturian Radical Miner during the Decarbonisation." ISTORIYA 12.3 (101) (2021) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840014879-5
APA	Koroleva A., Smolskaya E., Bogdanova D. (2021). The Myth of the Asturian Radical Miner during the Decarbonisation. ISTORIYA 12(3 (101)) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840014879-5

100 rub.

When subscribing to an article or issue, the user can download PDF, evaluate the publication or contact the author. Need to register.

Number of purchasers: 0, views: 465

Readers community rating: votes 0

1. Aliev R., Zakharcheva K. Dekarbonizatsiya mirovoj ehkonomiki kak faktor smeny strategij ehnergeticheskikh kompanij v XXI v. M.: MGIMO-Universitet, 2021.

2. Grantseva E. O. Vozmozhno li soglasie? Istoricheskaya pamyat' o sobytiyakh KhKh v. v povsednevnoj zhizni i zakonodatel'stve sovremennoj Ispanii // Latinoamerikanskij istoricheskij al'manakh. 2018. № 19. S. 316—336.

3. Zhilina I. Yu. Teoreticheskie osnovy sotsial'noj otvetstvennosti biznesa: istoriya, ehvolyutsiya // Ehkonomicheskie i sotsial'nye problemy Rossii. 2016. № 1. S. 12—31.

4. Smol'skaya E. P. KSO kak nematerial'nyj aktiv brenda // Rossijskaya piarologiya-7: trendy i drajvery. SPb.: Sankt-Peterburgskij gosudarstvennyj ehkonomicheskij universitet, 2018. S. 49—52.

5. Tronin S. A. Ispol'zovanie rekreatsionnykh faktorov v strategii korporativnoj sotsial'noj otvetstvennosti // Sovremennaya nauka: aktual'nye problemy teorii i praktiki. Seriya: Ehkonomika i pravo. 2018. № 8. S. 45—47.

6. Álvarez C. El Sindicato Único de Mineros de Asturias (SUM) 1922—1935 // Espacio, tiempo y forma. Serie V: Historia Contemporánea. 2002. Vol. 15. P. 279—315.

7. Garrido D. L. Relecciones sobre la Constitucionalidad del Real Decreto Ley 1/1992, de Medidas Urgentes sobre Fomento del Empleo y Protección por Desempleo // Revista Española de Derecho Constitucional. 1993. № 38. P. 13—48.

8. Geary D. The myth of the radical miner // Towards a Comparative History of Coalfield Societies. L.: Routledge, 2017. P. 43—64. DOI: 10.4324/9781315235936-4.

9. González Fernández A. La FSA-PSOE en democracia: El SOMA-UGT como correa de transmisión de la corriente guerrista (1979—1993) // Historia Actual Online. 2020. Vol. 51. № 1. P. 93—100.

10. Hallahan K. Ivy lee and the rockefellers’ response to the 1913—1914 colorado coal strike // International Journal of Phytoremediation. 2002. Vol. 21. № 1. P. 265—315. DOI: 10.1207/S1532754XJPRR1404_1.

11. Hay una luz en Asturias: las huelgas de 1962 / ed. R. Vega García. Oviedo: Ediciones Trea, 2002.

12. Kerr C., Siegel A. The interindustry propensity to strike: an international comparison // Industrial Conflict. N. Y.: McGraw-Hill, 1954. P. 189—212.

13. Kerry M. Radicalisation, Community and the Politics of Protest in the Spanish Second Republic: Asturias, 1931—1934 // The English Historical Review. 2017. Vol. 132. № 555. P. 318—343. DOI:10.1093/ehr/cex090.

14. Knotter A. Migration and Ethnicity in Coalfield History: Global Perspectives // International Review of Social History. 2015. Vol. 60. № S1. P. 13—39. DOI: 10.1017/S0020859015000413.

15. Muñiz Sánchez J. Finding the North. Manuel Llaneza and the French influence on Spanish trades unionism in the early 20th century // Hispania — Revista Española de Historia. 2009. Vol. 69. № 233. P. 793—820. DOI: 10.3989/hispania.2009.v69.i233.121.

16. Regeneración urbana y territorial. El valle del Samuño, Paradigma del poblamiento minero degradado / Alonso Ibáñez M. R., Fernández García A., Carrero de Roa M., Pérez Fernández J. M. Langreo: Universidad de Oviedo, 2013.

17. Rimlinger G. V. International Differences in the Strike Propensity of Coal Miners: Experience in Four Countries // ILR Rev. 1959. Vol. 12. № 3. P. 389—405. DOI: 10.1177/001979395901200304.

18. Rodríguez Gutiérrez F., Menéndez Fernández R. Contracción territorial y ordenación urbana para encarar el ciclo post-minero en Mieres (Asturias-España) // Ciudades. 2019. № 22. P. 99—120 [Ehlektronnyj resurs]. URL: https://doi.org/10.24197/ciudades.22.2019.99-122.

19. Shubert A. The Road to Revolution in Spain: The Coal Miners of Asturias, 1860—1934. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1987.

20. Tascón J. Recruiting labor for the Asturian industry: 1828—1981 // Espace, populations, sociétés. 2001. Vol. 19. № 3. P. 259—277. DOI: 10.3406/espos.2001.1997.