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

Fisher, E.; Luning, S.; D’Angelo, Lorenzo.; Araujo, C.H.X.; Arnaldi Di Balme, L.; Calvimontes, J.; ... ; Twongyirwe, R. (2021)

Article / Letter to editor

Growth strategies in mining regions promote gold extraction basedonindustrial 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 howASGM 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 inthe 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.

• All authors: Fisher, E.; Luning, S.; D’Angelo, Lorenzo.; Araujo, C.H.X.; Arnaldi Di Balme, L.; Calvimontes, J.; Camp, E. van de; Costa Ferreira, L. da; Lanzano, C.; Massaro, L.; Ouédraogo, A.; Mello, J.P.; Pijpers, R.J.; Obodai Provençal, N.; Resende de Moraes, R.; Sawadogo, C.; Theije, M. de; Tomi, G. de; Tuhumwire, M.; Twongyirwe, R.
• Date: 2021-07-26
• Journal: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability
• Volume: 49
• Pages: 190 - 200
• DOI: doi:10.1016/j.cosust.2021.06.010
• Sponsorship: NWO