“Be a Miner”: Constructions and Contestations of Masculinity in the British Coalfields, 1975–1983

IF 0.8 2区 历史学 Q1 HISTORY
Keith Gildart, Ben Curtis, Andrew Perchard, Grace Millar
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

In 1975, the National Coal Board (NCB) produced a short film, “People Will Always Need Coal”, to encourage recruitment into mining. It was extraordinarily attention-grabbing, presenting miners as cosmopolitan playboys. It defined the industry in hyper-masculine terms, encouraging would-be recruits to “be a miner”. This article uses the film as a starting point for a discussion of the complex interactions between the material realities of masculinity, class, and culture within Britain's coalfields in the period 1975–1983. A critical reading of the film is complemented by archival research and oral testimony drawn from interviews with 96 former miners and their families. At a time when the industry was positioning itself as an employer with a long-term future, mining was presented on screen as a modern masculine occupation that was far removed from the dominant imagery of coal for much of the twentieth century. The National Union of Mineworkers’ (NUM) victories in the strikes of 1972 and 1974, the drafting of a Government Plan for Coal, and rising living standards, created a short period of optimism before the cataclysmic closures of the 1980s and 1990s. This was a time when masculinity in the coalfields was being reproduced, modified, contested, and subverted. The years 1975–1983 offer valuable insight into such masculinity and the ways it was mediated and challenged through work, the domestic sphere, leisure, and popular culture.
"成为一名矿工":1975-1983 年英国煤田中男性气质的构建与争议
1975 年,国家煤炭委员会(NCB)制作了一部名为 "人们永远需要煤炭 "的短片,以鼓励招募矿工。这部短片格外吸引眼球,将矿工塑造成大都会的花花公子。短片以超强的男子气概定义了采矿业,鼓励有意应聘者 "成为一名矿工"。本文以这部电影为切入点,讨论 1975-1983 年间英国煤田中男性气质、阶级和文化等物质现实之间的复杂互动关系。在对影片进行批判性解读的同时,还对 96 名前矿工及其家人进行了档案研究和口头证词访谈。在煤炭行业将自己定位为具有长远发展前景的雇主之时,采矿业在银幕上被展现为一种现代男性职业,与 20 世纪大部分时间里煤炭的主流形象大相径庭。全国矿工工会(NUM)在 1972 年和 1974 年的罢工中取得胜利,政府起草了《煤炭计划》,生活水平不断提高,这些都为 20 世纪 80 年代和 90 年代灾难性的关闭之前创造了一个短暂的乐观时期。在这一时期,煤田中的男子气概正在被复制、修改、争论和颠覆。1975-1983 年间,人们通过工作、家庭、休闲和流行文化,对这种男性气质及其受到调和和挑战的方式有了宝贵的了解。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
1.10
自引率
0.00%
发文量
68
期刊介绍: International Review of Social History, is one of the leading journals in its field. Truly global in its scope, it focuses on research in social and labour history from a comparative and transnational perspective, both in the modern and in the early modern period, and across periods. The journal combines quality, depth and originality of its articles with an open eye for theoretical innovation and new insights and methods from within its field and from contiguous disciplines. Besides research articles, it features surveys of new themes and subject fields, a suggestions and debates section, review essays and book reviews. It is esteemed for its annotated bibliography of social history titles, and also publishes an annual supplement of specially commissioned essays on a current theme.
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