COAL-MINING IN UPPER SILESIA UNDER COMMUNISM AND CAPITALISM

Arguing that models of the evolution of coal production pay insufficie nt attention to the economic, political and social environment externa l to the mine, this article analyses changes in the Upper Silesian coa lmining industry during communism and after within a top-down, bottom- up framework. Three spatial scales are recognized: macro, meso and mic ro. Prior to the soft revolution of 1989, the Soviet model of heavy in dustrialization and international trading conditions were important is sues, while at the national scale the government structured the indust ry and gave miners a special place in Polish society. Coal production could also be related to political vicissitudes. At the local scale th e spatial characteristics of the industry strongly correlated with geo logy, bottom-up forces being weak. The international collapse of commu nism fundamentally changed the fortunes of the industry, bur despite t he free market, the government continues to exercise considerable infl uence. Bottom-up forces are now more important, the collieries having a degree of autonomy, while the devolution of considerable political p ower to the counties has led to the enforcement of environmental prote ction regulations.