Abstract
Mining labour markets in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine in the 20th century A comparative analysis of labour recruitment, migration and mobility in times of expansion, consolidation and closure in four adjacent mining regions in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands In the four regions that make up the actual Euregio Meuse-Rhine (Belgian and Dutch Limburg, the province of Liege and the Aachen area), the development of coal mining in the 20th century had a profound and lasting influence on society. This project, a comparative analysis of the development of mining labour markets in these four areas, aims at a better understanding of the historical impact of the mining industry on social life in the Euregio. Central questions are: how were labour market tensions in these regions, caused by the development of the mining industry, overcome; how were mining companies able to recruit miners in sufficient quantities; what were their strategies and policies in this respect and what were their sources of supply; how were these labour markets consolidated, reproduced and renewed in the long run; what was the impact of the closure of the mines and the economic restructuring of the areas in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s on (un)employment, mobility and market behaviour of (former) mineworkers; which patterns are visible in the behaviour of actors on supply and demand sides (mineworkers and mining companies)? Comparative research will reveal similarities and regional, c.q. national differences in recruitment policies, labour migration and mobility, and segmentation. In this way general processes can be discerned from regional developments. The project aims to map geographical and social connections and demarcations in regional mining labour markets. The following issues are relevant in this respect: 1) the implantation of a labour market for miners in the regional socio-economic setting; 2) cross-border mobility of miners, a) between the areas under study, and b) between these areas and adjacent areas in Germany (Ruhrgebiet) and Belgium (Walloon provinces); 3) the recruitment and settlement (permanently or temporarily) of labour migrants, both national and foreign ('guest workers'); 4) unemployment and restructuring of the labour force in the closing period.