Extractivism and Labour Control: Reflections of Turkey's 'Coal Rush' in Local Labour Regimes

OpenAlex · English

This study analyses labour processes and local labour control strategies in the extractive industries and regions as the reflections of state-capital-labour-nature relations. I argue that, for the analysis of labour control in extractive industries, there is a need to pay attention to (i) the significance of the natural resource for global capital accumulation processes and for the development policies of the state; (ii) the formation of the local labour market through proletarianization of rural population and other means of labour supply; (iii) the organization of work considering both natural limits (such as geological structure of the basin) and workforce composition; and (iv) the use of local political, institutional and community dynamics. Drawing upon the fieldwork carried out in Soma Coal Basin, this paper shows how Turkey’s coal rush shapes local labour control strategies.