Miners and the State in the Ottoman Empire The Zonguldak Coalfield, 1822-1920 [Paperback]

The story of the miners of Zonguldak presents a particularly graphic local lens through which to examine questions that have been of major concern to historiansmost prominently, the development of the state, the emergence of capitalism, and the role of the working classes in these large processes. This book examines such major issues through the actual experiences of coal miners in the Ottoman Empire. The encounters of mine workers with state mining officials and private mine operators do not follow the expected patterns of labor-state-capital relations as predicted by the major explanatory paradigms of modernization or dependency. Indeed, as the author clearly shows, few of the outcomes are as predicted. The fate of these miners has much to offer both Ottoman and Middle East specialists as well as scholars of the developing world and, more generally, those interested in the connections between economic development and social and political change.

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments

Chapter 1.Introduction and Historiographical Essay
Chapter 2.The Ottoman Coal Coast
Chapter 3.Coal Miners at Work: Jobs, Recruitment, and Wages
Chapter 4.Like Slaves in Colonial Countries: Working Conditions in the Coalfield
Chapter 5.Ties That Bind: Village-Mine Relations
Chapter 6.Military Duty and Mine Work: The Blurred Vocations of Ottoman Soldier-Workers
Chapter 7.Methane, Rockfalls, and Other Disasters: Accidents at the Mines
Chapter 8.Victims and Agents: Confronting Death and Safety in the Mines
Chapter 9.Wartime in the Coalfield
Chapter 10.Conclusion

Appendix on the Reporting of Accidents
An Ottoman Miners Glossary
List of Abbreviations
Notes on Calendar System

Bibliography
Index

Donald Quataertis PlÃ