The Myth of the Asturian Radical Miner during the Decarbonisation

Abstract

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.