ABSTRACT
All over the world, mining companies have struggled with labour shortages and had to find ways to recruit sufficient numbers of workers for their mines. The solutions adopted have ranged from the involvement of part-time peasant miners, organised mediation by labour contractors and systems of forced labour, to state regulation of national and international migration. The importance of these kinds of ‘intervening institution’ in mobilising labour for the coal mines is illustrated by examples from different parts of the world. Efforts to find new workers for the mines often resulted in the recruitment of ethnic groups of a lower social status, not only because they were rural and unskilled, but also because they were considered inferior from a cultural or ethnic viewpoint. In this respect there was a huge difference with the migration and settlement of skilled miners, like those from Britain, but also from other countries. Ethnic differences were often closely related to differences in skill and social status. Although there are many instances of interethnic solidarity and cooperation, depending on the timeframe and circumstances, these differences could have a profound effect on social relations in the mining communities.
