Incorporation and Mechanical Solidarity in an Underground Coal Mine

Abstract

In this article we illustrate the concern with mechanical solidarity exhibited by work groups within a dangerous work setting. Building upon the notions of Ralph Turner and Louis Zurcher, the argument is made that groups which must continually deal with potential disaster will manifest mechanical solidarity as the dominant form of social integration. In the underground coal mine, games and dramatic performances which subvert outside behavioral expectations are utilized to emphasize the "different world" context of the work setting. Deviant from dominant cultural norms, these games serve as powerful mechanisms for the direct bonding of individual and group.