The lifeways of small-scale gold miners: Addressing sustainability transformations

Eleanor Fisher; Marjo de Theije; Carlos H.X. Araujo; Jorge Calvimontes; Esther van de Camp; Lorenzo D'Angelo; Cristiano Lanzano; Sabine Luning; Luciana Massaro; Januária Mello; Alizèta Ouédraogo; Robert J. Pijpers; Raíssa Resende de Moraes; Christophe Sawadogo; Margaret Tuhumwire; Ronald Twongyirwe

doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2023.102724

The lifeways of small-scale gold miners: Addressing sustainability transformations

Eleanor Fisher^*
, Marjo de Theije
, Carlos H.X. Araujo
, Jorge Calvimontes
, Esther van de Camp
, Lorenzo D'Angelo
, Cristiano Lanzano
, Sabine Luning
, Luciana Massaro
, Januária Mello
, Alizèta Ouédraogo
, Robert J. Pijpers
, Raíssa Resende de Moraes
, Christophe Sawadogo
, Margaret Tuhumwire
, Ronald Twongyirwe

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Small-scale gold mining sustains millions of people's lives and yet it stimulates environmental harms and social conflicts. Global environmental crises drive calls for fundamental change to how people live on the planet. For small-scale gold mining, this raises questions about whether current dynamics can provide a basis for sustainability transformations. Proposing the notion of gold lifeways to focus on the lived experience of mining and gold resources as relational phenomena, we ask what sustainability looks like from different miners’ perspectives and probe the practice dynamics of current transformation. Our methodology is social science-led and transdisciplinary. From multi-sited and trans-regional research between South America and Africa, we draw cases from Suriname, Guinea Conakry, and Uganda. Our study finds that gold lifeways give expression to different strands of sustainability: sustaining everyday life in mining; discourses framing mining practices; and government repression of mining. Hence, as our empirical data demonstrates, miner perspectives on sustainability gain content not in isolation, but as part of gold lifeways embedded within different contexts and shaped by societal dynamics. Ultimately, the transformative potency of small-scale gold mining is located in personal lives and precarious dynamics rather than glittering promises of a sustainable future.

Original language	English
Article number	102724
Pages (from-to)	1-13
Number of pages	13
Journal	Global Environmental Change
Volume	82
Early online date	29 Aug 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2023.102724
Publication status	Published - Sept 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Belmont Forum and NORFACE Joint Research Programme on Transformations to Sustainability, co-funded by DLR/BMBF, ESRC, FAPESP, ISC, NWO, VR, and the EC through Horizon 2020 (grant number: 462.17.201) under the project ‘Sustainability Transformations in Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining: Trans-regional and Multi-Actor Perspectives’ (‘Gold Matters’) (2018 – 2022). Eleanor Fisher and Cristiano Lanzano acknowledge the support of the Nordic Africa Institute.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s)

Funding

We would like to acknowledge the gold miners, members of mining communities, government officials, and representatives of non-governmental organisations with whom transdisciplinary research was made possible. They include individuals who have been willing to share their working lives, workplaces, ideas and knowledge with us in circumstances of surveillance and political sensitivity over mining activities. In addition, we are grateful to the editors of this special issue and anonymous reviewers for peer review comments to help us improve the draft; we remain responsible for all errors. This work was supported by the Belmont Forum and NORFACE Joint Research Programme on Transformations to Sustainability, co-funded by DLR/BMBF, ESRC, FAPESP, ISC, NWO, VR, and the EC through Horizon 2020 (grant number: 462.17.201) under the project \u2018Sustainability Transformations in Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining: Trans-regional and Multi-Actor Perspectives\u2019 (\u2018Gold Matters\u2019) (2018 \u2013 2022). Eleanor Fisher and Cristiano Lanzano acknowledge the support of the Nordic Africa Institute. This work was supported by the Belmont Forum and NORFACE Joint Research Programme on Transformations to Sustainability, co-funded by DLR/BMBF, ESRC, FAPESP, ISC, NWO, VR, and the EC through Horizon 2020 (grant number: 462.17.201) under the project \u2018Sustainability Transformations in Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining: Trans-regional and Multi-Actor Perspectives\u2019 (\u2018Gold Matters\u2019) (2018 \u2013 2022). Eleanor Fisher and Cristiano Lanzano acknowledge the support of the Nordic Africa Institute.

Funders	Funder number
Economic and Social Research Council
Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
European Commission
Institute for the Study of Social Change, University of Tasmania
Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt
???publication-publication-funding-organisation-not-added???	462.17.201
Horizon 2020	462.17.201

Keywords

Gold lifeways
Materiality
Small-scale gold mining
Sustainability transformations
Transdisciplinary

Access to Document

10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2023.102724Licence: CC BY

Persistent URL (handle)

Persistent link

Cite this

Fisher, E., de Theije, M., Araujo, C. H. X., Calvimontes, J., van de Camp, E., D'Angelo, L., Lanzano, C., Luning, S., Massaro, L., Mello, J., Ouédraogo, A., Pijpers, R. J., de Moraes, R. R., Sawadogo, C., Tuhumwire, M., & Twongyirwe, R. (2023). The lifeways of small-scale gold miners: Addressing sustainability transformations. Global Environmental Change, 82, 1-13. Article 102724. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2023.102724

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abstract = "Small-scale gold mining sustains millions of people's lives and yet it stimulates environmental harms and social conflicts. Global environmental crises drive calls for fundamental change to how people live on the planet. For small-scale gold mining, this raises questions about whether current dynamics can provide a basis for sustainability transformations. Proposing the notion of gold lifeways to focus on the lived experience of mining and gold resources as relational phenomena, we ask what sustainability looks like from different miners{\textquoteright} perspectives and probe the practice dynamics of current transformation. Our methodology is social science-led and transdisciplinary. From multi-sited and trans-regional research between South America and Africa, we draw cases from Suriname, Guinea Conakry, and Uganda. Our study finds that gold lifeways give expression to different strands of sustainability: sustaining everyday life in mining; discourses framing mining practices; and government repression of mining. Hence, as our empirical data demonstrates, miner perspectives on sustainability gain content not in isolation, but as part of gold lifeways embedded within different contexts and shaped by societal dynamics. Ultimately, the transformative potency of small-scale gold mining is located in personal lives and precarious dynamics rather than glittering promises of a sustainable future.",

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author = "Eleanor Fisher and \{de Theije\}, Marjo and Araujo, \{Carlos H.X.\} and Jorge Calvimontes and \{van de Camp\}, Esther and Lorenzo D'Angelo and Cristiano Lanzano and Sabine Luning and Luciana Massaro and Janu{\'a}ria Mello and Aliz{\`e}ta Ou{\'e}draogo and Pijpers, \{Robert J.\} and \{de Moraes\}, \{Ra{\'i}ssa Resende\} and Christophe Sawadogo and Margaret Tuhumwire and Ronald Twongyirwe",

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Fisher, E, de Theije, M, Araujo, CHX, Calvimontes, J, van de Camp, E, D'Angelo, L, Lanzano, C, Luning, S, Massaro, L, Mello, J, Ouédraogo, A, Pijpers, RJ, de Moraes, RR, Sawadogo, C, Tuhumwire, M & Twongyirwe, R 2023, 'The lifeways of small-scale gold miners: Addressing sustainability transformations', Global Environmental Change, vol. 82, 102724, pp. 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2023.102724

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AU - de Moraes, Raíssa Resende

AU - Sawadogo, Christophe

AU - Tuhumwire, Margaret

AU - Twongyirwe, Ronald

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The lifeways of small-scale gold miners: Addressing sustainability transformations

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

Persistent URL (handle)

Other files and links

Fingerprint

GOLD MATTERS: Sustainability Transformations in Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining: A Multi-Actor and Trans-Regional Perspective

Transformations to sustainability: Processes, practices, and pathways

Gold surprises us

National Raw Materials Strategy: expert session civil society

Melhor Filme Etnográfico (best ethnographic film)

Cite this

The lifeways of small-scale gold miners: Addressing sustainability transformations

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

Persistent URL (handle)

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Projects

GOLD MATTERS: Sustainability Transformations in Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining: A Multi-Actor and Trans-Regional Perspective

Research output

Transformations to sustainability: Processes, practices, and pathways

Gold surprises us

Activities

National Raw Materials Strategy: expert session civil society

Prizes

Melhor Filme Etnográfico (best ethnographic film)

Cite this