Das abgesperrte Normativitätsregime: Arbeit und Kapital im Ruhrbergbau bis 1918/19

Abstract

This article examines the normative regime of the Ruhr mining industry since the 1850s, questioning the assumption that labour and capital directly faced each other in a struggle over working conditions and regulations. Instead, it demonstrates that the normative regime developed by the mine owners was designed to block the miners’ (and later the trade unions’) demands. The Ruhr syndicate created a highly differentiated organisational structure in order to forestall any possibility of negotiation with labour.