ransforming matters: sustaining gold lifeways in artisanal and small-scale minin

Author(s):Show less -

Fisher, Eleanor ^{[1, 2]} ; Luning, Sabine ^[3] ; D'Angelo, Lorenzo ^[2] ; Araujo, Carlos Hx ^[4] ; de Balme, Luigi Arnaldi ^[5] ; Calvimontes, Jorge ^[6] ; van de Camp, Esther ^[3] ; Ferreira, Lucia da Costa ^[6] ; Lanzano, Cristiano ^[1] ; Massaro, Luciana ^{[7, 6]} ; Ouedraogo, Alizeta ^[5] ; Mello, Januaria Pereira ^[6] ; Pijpers, Robert J. ^[8] ; Provencal, Nii Obodai ^[9] ; de Moraes, Raissa Resende ^{[4, 7]} ; Sawadogo, Christophe ^[5] ; de Theije, Marjo ^[7] ; de Tomi, Giorgio ^[4] ; Tuhumwire, Margaret ^[10] ; Twongyirwe, Ronald ^[11]

Affiliation:Show less -

^[1] Nordic Africa Inst, Box 1703, SE-75147 Uppsala - Sweden

^[2] Univ Reading, Reading RG6 6AR, Berks - England

^[3] Leiden Univ, POB 9555, NL-2300 RA Leiden - Netherlands

^[4] Univ Sao Paulo, Nap Mineracao, BR-05508030 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[5] Inst Social Res Africa, Sect 22 Zogona 06 BP 9325, Ouagadougou - Burkina Faso

^[6] Univ Estadual Campinas, NEPAM, UNICAMP, BR-13083867 Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[7] Vrije Univ Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1105, NL-1081 HV Amsterdam - Netherlands

^[8] Univ Hamburg, Edmund Siemers Allee 1, West ESA W, D-20146 Hamburg - Germany

^[9] Nuku Studios, Airport Residential Area, 13 Nme Lane, Accra - Ghana

^[10] Environm Women Act Dev, POB 883, Entebbe - Uganda

^[11] Mbarara Univ Sci & Technol, POB 1410, Mbarara - Uganda

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability; v. 49, p. 190-200, APR 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Growth strategies in mining regions promote gold extraction based on industrial mining, associating Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM) with persistent informality. Against this background, we consider how to approach transformations to sustainability in ASGM. Acknowledging how problematic this topic is for sustainability debates, given how ASGM is associated with a host of environmental and social problems, we argue that a justice lens demands we confront such challenges within the global politics of sustainability. This leads us to review advances in the study of ASGM, linked to debates on extractivism, resource materialities, and informality. We use the notion of gold lifeways to capture how the matter of mining shapes different worlds of extraction. We argue that consideration of the potential for transformations to sustainability needs to be grounded within the realities of ASGM. This necessitates giving value to miners' knowledge(s), perspectives and interests, while recognising the plurality of mining futures. Nevertheless, we conclude that between the immediacy of precarious work and the structural barriers to change in ASGM, the challenges for transformation cannot be underestimated. (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 19/09709-9 - Trajectories and transformations: possible futures of artisanal gold mining in the Brazilian Amazon
• Grantee: Jorge Calvimontes Ugarte
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 20/07985-6 - Land use change dynamics in Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining areas in the Brazilian Amazon
• Grantee: Luciana Massaro
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 18/50033-6 - Sustainability transformations in artisanal and small scale gold mining: a multi actor and trans regional perspective
• Grantee: Lúcia da Costa Ferreira
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants