A history of mining in Latin America : from the colonial era to the present / Kendall W. Brown.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brown, Kendall W., 1949-

Series:

Diálogos (Albuquerque, N.M.)

Diálogos series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Silver mines and mining--Bolivia--Potosí--History.

Silver mines and mining.

Mines and mineral resources--Latin America--History.

Mines and mineral resources.

History.

Latin America.

Bolivia--Potosí.

Physical Description:

xix, 257 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Albuquerque : University of New Mexico Press, 2012.

Summary:

Mining has played a prominent role in the history of Latin America. New World bullion stimulated the formation of the first world economy, and mining and metallurgical technologies flowed to and from the Americas. This book, the first comprehensive treatment of the subject in decades, combines coverage of economic and technological topics with a compelling evocation of the social and cultural costs associated with five centuries of intense exploitation. Mining had profound consequences for the environment and for labor, as mine operators and refiners resorted to extreme forms of coercion to secure workers.

The author uses Potosi, in the mountains of present-day Bolivia, as a case study. The richest single colonial-era silver mine, Potosi experienced a second-generation boom as a rich source of tin in the twentieth century. The regions mines continue in production and remain sites of intense political activity. In addition to this important single case, Brown discusses major mining developments in Chile, Peru, Mexico, and Brazil, addressing such topics as the economic dimensions of gold and silver mining in colonial Latin America, how American bullion interacted with the emerging world economy, the labor systems the Spaniards and Portuguese created and the mineral wealth they discovered in their American colonies, and the social implications of colonial mining, especially the widespread resorting to forced labor, which often worked alongside more or less free-wage labor. He also looks at the environmental impact of mining, the effect of Latin America's political independence on the mining industry, the transition toward mining nonprecious metals such as tin and copper, the introduction of new technologies of transportation and refining, and the beginnings of labor organization in the industry. Brown concludes with an examination of the ecological consequences of Latin America mining and how Andean cosmology enabled workers to find harmony despite the horror and misery of the mines. Book jacket.

Contents:

The lure of gold, the wealth of silver

Potosí and colonial Latin American mining

Spanish and Portuguese colonialism and mining labor

Workers' response to colonial mining

New nations resurrect their mining industry

The technological and social dimensions of modern mining

Miners and revolution

Mining, harmony, and the environment.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780826351067

0826351069

9780826351074

0826351077

OCLC:

733937340