Bounded imaginaries of coal: Local meanings, materiality, and visions of the good life in Upper Silesia

This paper examines local imaginaries of coal within the mining communities of Upper Silesia in southern Poland, offering a grounded perspective on how coal-shaped visions of a good life emerge from lived, material experiences. Drawing on the concept of bounded imaginaries, we shift focus from dominant national narratives to locally held, non-expert visions engendered by coal's material presence. Our analysis of ethnographic and historical evidence demonstrates that the material experience of coal and mining labour fosters a bounded imaginary with two interrelated dimensions: one centred on people, the other on the Earth. The people-centred dimension reveals how local visions of the good life enabled by coal are rooted in supportive and stable communities that care for their social environment. In the Earth-centred dimension, the meaning of the good life is grounded in respect for natural resources’ role in sustaining human societies, an awareness of the fragility of human life, and an ethos of sufficiency. Both dimensions stem from engagement with coal's materiality, revealing visions of a good life that are not readily accessible to those without tangible experience of coal. We argue that such imaginaries hold transformative potential for shaping socially just energy transitions that are attuned to local needs and aspirations. In Upper Silesia, where coal phase-out is gaining momentum through Just Transition Funds, these bounded imaginaries can further inform emerging models of distributed renewable energy production driven by local communities. Rather than dismissing attachments to coal as relics of the past, this paper shows how the lived experiences and material entanglements of coal communities can be mobilised generatively in designing post-coal futures. By foregrounding the material roots of local imaginaries, our findings contribute to broader debates in energy social science about the importance of place-based visions, experiential knowledge, and care in driving just transitions.