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Paper short abstract:

Around 1850, iron ore extraction began in Aïn Mokra, Algeria. A gigantic production mobilizing a huge workforce transformed territories disciplining workers to do so. This paper propose a socio-environmental history of Aïn Mokra seen as an observatory of industrial and colonial capitalism.

Paper long abstract:

In the mid-19th century, the Aïn Mokra iron mine in Algeria began operations. Within a few years, more than 300,000 tons of iron ore were extracted annually from the site, feeding a French steel industry in constant search of raw materials. Extraction mobilized a workforce of nearly 2,000.

This paper will first look at the land history of mining. As in mainland France, but according to singular procedures specific to the colonial situation, the mining concession gave rise to numerous conflicts. The concessionaire found himself at odds with the rural Algerian population, forest concessionaires and the state itself.

The transformations brought about by mining are those that characterize the transition from a rural to a mining territory, including urbanization, industrialization and connection to the "world system". While this history is related to that of metropolitan mining, the colonial situation produces specific features that this paper aims to examine.

One of these is the presence of forced laborers on the site. These categories of workers, both colonial and colonized, are exposed to excess mortality, as documented by the archives of the Bône military hospital and by the printed sources of colonial medical doctors. The aim of this paper is to link environmental and social history to understand the historical transformations proceeding from this mining activities.