The longue durée of a temporary occupation: mining and pluriactivity in Sardinia (19th - 20th century)

Abstract

Pluriactivity has often been described as a structural character of mining work, in a close relation with the rural and agricultural world. This contribution, based on Mediterranean case studies, analyses pluriactivity in mining context as a form of work influenced by the relationship between the mine and its territory. Focusing on the case of Sardinian miners, this paper describes the persistence of pluriactivity in the long term, underlining the influence of both the agrarian configuration of the territory and the crises that occurred from 1890 to the interwar period. Rationalization represents in that context a major element of change from the 1920s onwards. The morphology of mining work, influenced by the mutual relations between activities, changes over time. This contribution aims at shedding light on these transformations through a socio-eco- nomic analysis of the mine as a hybrid technical site of contemporary industry.