The silver produced by indigenous mine workers in Potosi´, Bolivia, helped fuel early modern global trade. While historiography has analyzed the structure of the labor force, one important question has not been addressed: how workers themselves acted on and changed the conditions imposed on their lives. this article argues that they fundamentally shaped Potosi´’s labor system. I analyze, then, the interaction between coerced and free labor—mitayos and mingas—and emphasize their interconnection with k’ajchas (selfemployed workers) and the rudimentary ore mills known as trapiches. The article demonstrates how k’ajchas and trapiches contested the property rights of the traditional Spanish mine- and millowners in Potosi´. I also highlight the key role of women in refining and trading ores, which challenges standard gender assumptions about mining labor. By the eighteenth century a heterogeneous popular economy broke the monopoly over production once held by Spanish mine- and millowners.

中文翻译：

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世界劳动银牌：殖民地波托西的采矿业和大众经济

玻利维亚波托西的土著矿山工人生产的白银有助于推动早期的现代全球贸易。尽管史学分析了劳动力的结构，但尚未解决一个重要问题：工人自己如何行动并改变生活条件。本文认为，它们从根本上塑造了波托西的劳动体系。然后，我分析了强迫劳动和自由劳动（mitayos和mingas）之间的相互作用，并强调了它们与k'ajchas（个体经营者）和基本的矿石厂（被称为trapiches）的相互联系。这篇文章展示了k'ajchas和trapiches如何与Potosi´的西班牙传统矿主和庄主的财产权抗衡。我还强调了妇女在精炼和交易矿石中的关键作用，这挑战了有关采矿劳动的标准性别假设。到了18世纪，异质的大众经济打破了西班牙矿主和磨坊主曾经拥有的对生产的垄断。