Transforming matters: sustaining gold lifeways in artisanal and small-scale mining

Abstract

Growth strategies in mining regions promote gold extractionbased on industrial mining, associating Artisanal and Small-scaleGold Mining (ASGM) with persistent informality. Against thisbackground, we consider how to approach transformations tosustainability in ASGM. Acknowledging how problematic thistopic is for sustainability debates, given how ASGM is associatedwith a host of environmental and social problems, we argue that ajustice lens demands we confront such challenges within theglobal politics of sustainability. This leads us to review advancesin the study of ASGM, linked to debates on extractivism, resourcematerialities,andinformality. Weuse thenotionofgoldlifewaystocapture how the matter of mining shapes different worlds ofextraction. We argue that consideration of the potential fortransformations to sustainability needs to be grounded within therealities of ASGM. This necessitates giving value to miners’knowledge(s), perspectives and interests, while recognising theplurality of mining futures. Nevertheless, we conclude thatbetween the immediacy of precarious work and the structuralbarriers to change in ASGM, the challenges for transformationcannot be underestimated.