Coal, state, and society: Resource-making and state formation in early republican Turkey

Abstract

Commercial coal mining in Turkey's Zonguldak region began in the mid-nineteenth century and played a significant role in both the late Ottoman period and, with increasing importance, the subsequent republic. This paper examines the processes through which Zonguldak's coal reserves became the most important national energy resource during the early republican period (1920s–1940s). Building on critical resource geography scholarship, I argue that a dialectical relationship existed between the resource-making of Zonguldak's coal reserves and the state formation in the early republic. Specifically, I demonstrate that Zonguldak's coal reserves were both materially and discursively employed by state elites to further the state-building project. In turn, this project facilitated the formulation, justification, and implementation of policies and plans related to the extraction, distribution, and utilization of Zonguldak's coal reserves. In examining the interplay between resource-making and state formation, I focus specifically on the material and practical implications for the Zonguldak region, illustrating the transformation of the physical landscape, state-society relations, and labor conditions. I conclude the paper by briefly addressing how this historical period laid the foundation for Zonguldak's near-complete dependence on the coal industry, which has since shaped the region's economic and social fabric.