Labor regimes, long-distance commuting, and the spaces of production and social reproduction in large-scale mining

Abstract The modern mining industry’s capital–labor dynamic centers on mobilizing workers from distant urban areas to extraction sites, operating under roster and long-distance commuting (LDC) system. Commonly explained as a cost-saving strategy or individual worker choice, this study challenges prevailing interpretations by embedding LDC within mining labor regimes to show the broader socio-ecological contexts that explain this phenomenon. Through a qualitative work, it unveils how LDC is grounded in the spheres of production, social reproduction, and ecology, in which the environmental conditions of the workplace and mining-related pollution in the spaces for social reproduction are critical.