Historicising sulfur mining, lime extraction and geotourism in Indonesia and Australia. Issue 4 (December 2021) - Protschky, Susie
Highlights: Examines overlooked significance of minerals obtained via artisanal and small-scale mining as industrial inputs in colonial economies. Excavates intersections between mining histories and environmental histories. Connects histories of artisanal and small-scale mining to geoheritage and geotourism. Comparative historical study of precarious labour communities. Innovative methodology and diffuse sources of evidence. Abstract: In both Australia and Indonesia, artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) have thus far been neglected by historians of colonialism and scholars of geotourism alike. Our two case studies historicise the practices of mining, quarrying and tourism at volcanic sulfur mines in Indonesia and along limestone coasts in southeastern Australia. Our case studies suggest how toxic work in spectacular settings of interest to geotourists is deeply embedded in modern histories of leisure and consumption. We propose a more critical interpretation of geotourist sites that accounts for the ways that environmental and labour histories have shaped these spectacular 'natural' environments.