From a mining town to a town of industrial multinationals: Explaining transformation through human agency and mining assets

Abstract

The article examines the transformation of a mining town to an industrial powerhouse by focusing on relations between specific agents and assets in the community. The objectives of this research are 1) to outline how human agency in a mining town mediated key transformation events, 2) to identify skills or specific capabilities of these agents which enacted changes, and 3) to recognize which (mining-related) assets were used or altered in the process. We take a closer look at Idrija, a former mercury mining town in Slovenia that has been transformed into a successful industrial town, also home to two multinational firms. The study is based on desk-based research, 12 semi-structured interviews with key agents and thematic interview analysis. We discover that the transformation of Idrija has been a gradual process, spanning four decades and consisting of several critical junctures where different types of human agency were required to make changes to existing mining assets. Interpersonal and institutional trust, loyalty, paternalism of incumbent firms, strategic thinking of agents, external market orientation and smallness are some of the soft assets that have proven time and again to be crucial for human agency at critical junctures. These soft assets, especially in institutionally thick post-mining areas, could become a tool for designing visions for the future, matching the expectations and capabilities of mining communities.