Paper short abstract:

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Paper long abstract:

This paper explores the changing relationship between the mining community, the mining company and the state in northeast Estonia over the past 30 years. The move from socialist to neo-liberal Estonia, and the political and economic changes that entailed, transformed values relating to natural resource extraction, profit and industry. The socialist and neo-liberal state have both in their own ways tried to exercise control over the mining company and the community, provoking different strategies for defending the existence of industry and the mining profession by the community. In this article, the changing relationships and values, and the key turning points are explored through the story of Artur. Artur was a miner and a socialist worker hero in the Soviet times, a trade union leader during mine re-organisation and closures, and later entered politics. Artur's story helps to uncover some of the difficulties of relationships in a period of rapid political and economic changes -and therein to understand the role of a single individual.