Coal Country : The Meaning and Memory of Deindustrialization in Postwar Scotland

Ewan Gibbs

ISBN 10: 1912702541 / ISBN 13: 9781912702541

Published by University Of London Press Feb 2021, 2021

About this Item

Neuware - The flooding and subsequent closure of Scotland's last deep coal mine in 2002 brought a centuries long saga to an end. Villages and towns across the densely populated Central Belt owe their existence to coal mining's expansion during the nineteenth century and its maturation in the twentieth. Colliery closures and job losses were not just experienced in economic terms: they had profound implications for what it meant to be a worker, a Scot and a resident of an industrial settlement. Coal Country presents the first book-length account of deindustrialization in the Scottish coalfields. It draws on archival research using records from UK government, the nationalized coal industry and trade unions, as well as the words and memories of former miners, their wives and children that were collected in an extensive oral history project.Deindustrialization progressed as a slow but powerful march across the second half of the twentieth century. In this book, big changes in cultural identities are explained as the outcome of long-term economic developments. The oral testimonies bring to life transformations in gender relations and distinct generational workplaces experiences. This book argues that major alterations to the politics of class and nationhood have their origins in deindustrialization. The adverse effects of UK government policy, and centralization in the nationalized coal industry, encouraged miners and their trade union to voice their grievances in the language of Scottish national sovereignty. These efforts established a distinctive Scottish national coalfield community and laid the foundations for a devolved Scottish Parliament. Coal Country explains the deep roots of economic changes and their political reverberations, which continue to be felt as we debate another major change in energy sources during the 2020s.

Seller Inventory # 9781912702541

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Coal Country : The Meaning and Memory of Deindustrialization in Postwar Scotland
• Publisher: University Of London Press Feb 2021
• Publication Date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1912702541
• ISBN 13: 9781912702541
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 234W x 156H x 25D millimeters 234 millimeters width by 156 millimeters height by 25 millimeters depth
• Weight: 784 grams

About this title

Synopsis

The flooding and subsequent closure of Scotland’s last deep coal mine in 2002 was a milestone event in the nation’s deindustrialization. Villages and towns across the densely populated Central Belt of Scotland owe their existence to coal mining’s expansion during the nineteenth century and its maturation in the twentieth. Colliery closures and job losses were not just experienced in economic terms: they also had profound social, cultural, and political implications. Coal Country documents this process of deindustrialization and its effects, drawing on archival records from the UK government, the nationalized coal industry, trade unions, and transcripts from an extensive oral history project. Deindustrialization, we learn, progressed slowly but powerfully across the second half of the twentieth century. Coal Country explains the deep roots of economic changes and their political reverberations, which continue to be felt to this day.

About the Author

Ewan Gibbs is a lecturer in history at the University of Glasgow.