The In Visibility Of Women And Mining

The chapters in this book provide in- depth insight into the gender norms and contexts in which women work in the expanding informal mining sector in sub- Saharan Africa. Collectively, the research here provides a nuanced account of women’s livelihood strategies in artisanal and small- scale mining (ASM, as its generally known) in ways that challenge images of women— as either victimized by mining or empowered by mining livelihoods, or both— that tend to dominate the growing array of donor and policy interventions in this sector. The authors come from different disciplinary traditions— anthropology, economics, political science, mining engineering, law— but all place questions of gendered power front and centre in their analyses of sociocultural, institutional, economic and political relationships, practices and arrangements within which women navigate their mining livelihoods. The physical or representational presence (and sometimes absence) of women in ASM sites is a linking theme, with the chapters exploring different dimensions of mining and gender— the gendered divisions of labour, migration, land ownership, cultural norms, and gendered authority relations— but also how ‘women’ materialize and are seen and unseen in the growing array of transnational interventions in this sector. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the Canadian Journal of African Studies.

Contrary to their masculine portrayal, mines have always employed women in valuable and productive roles. Yet, pit life continues to be represented as a masculine world of work, legitimizing men as the only mineworkers and large, mechanized, and capitalized operations as the only form of mining. Bringing together a range of case studies of women miners from past and present in Asia, the Pacific region, Latin America and Africa, this book makes visible the roles and contributions of women as miners. It also highlights the importance of engendering small and informal mining in the developing world as compared to the early European and American mines. The book shows that women are engaged in various kinds of mining and illustrates how gender and inequality are constructed and sustained in the mines, and also how ethnic identities intersect with those gendered identities.

The chapters in this book offer concrete examples from all over the world to show how community livelihoods in mineral-rich tracts can be more sustainable by fully integrating gender concerns into all aspects of the relationship between mining practices and mine affected communities. By looking at the mining industry and the mine-affected communities through a gender lens, the authors indicate a variety of practical strategies to mitigate the impacts of mining on women's livelihoods without undermining women's voice and status within the mine-affected communities. The term 'field' in the title of this volume is not restricted to the open-cut pits of large scale mining operations which are male-dominated workplaces, or with mining as a masculine, capital-intensive industry, but also connotes the wider range of mineral extractive practices which are carried out informally by women and men of artisanal communities at much smaller geographical scales throughout the mineral-rich tracts of poorer countries.

This edited volume explores how a feminist political ecology framework can bring fresh insights to the study of rural and urban livelihoods dependent on vulnerable rivers, lakes, watersheds, wetlands and coastal environments. Bringing together political ecologists and feminist scholars from multiple disciplines, the book develops solution-oriented advances to theory, policy and planning to tackle the complexity of these global environmental changes. Using applied research on the contemporary management of groundwater, springs, rivers, lakes, watersheds and coastal wetlands in Central and South Asia, Northern, Central and Southern Africa, and South and North America, the authors draw on a variety of methodological perspectives and new theoretical approaches to demonstrate the importance of considering multiple layers of social difference as produced by and central to the effective governance and local management of water resources. This unique collection employs a unifying feminist political ecology framework that emphasizes the ways that gender interacts with other social and geographical locations of water resource users. In doing so, the book further questions the normative gender discourses that underlie policies and practices surrounding rural and urban water management and climate change, water pollution, large-scale development and dams, water for crop and livestock production and processing, resource knowledge and expertise, and critical livelihood studies. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of environmental studies, development studies, feminist and environmental geography, anthropology, sociology, environmental philosophy, public policy, planning, media studies, Latin American and other area studies, as well as women’s and gender studies.

Meeting the targets of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires contributions by scientists focusing on understanding, monitoring, protecting, managing and restoring the natural environment, including geoscientists. This book presents the first detailed discussion on the role of the geological sciences (geosciences) community in the implementation of the SDGs. Unlike traditional geosciences textbooks, it is structured according to development priorities, framed in the context of the 17 SDGs. Written by international experts from diverse range of geosciences / development disciplines, it explores themes linked to both science and the professional practice of science (e.g., ethics, equity, conduct, and partnerships). The book is intended for graduate and senior undergraduate students in the earth sciences, as well as practicing geologists and experts from other sectors involved in sustainability initiatives.

Social science research is emerging on a range of issues around large and small-scale mining, connecting them to broader social, cultural, political, historical and economic factors rather than purely measuring the environmental impacts of mining. Within this broader context of global scholarly attention on extractive industries, this book explores two specific contexts: the cultural politics of coal and coal mining, within the context of one particular country, India, which is the third largest coal producer in the world. Both contexts are special; with its separate Ministry, coal occupies pride of place in contemporary India, shaping the energy future and influencing the economic and political milieu of the country. The supremacy attributed to coal mining in contemporary India represents how ’coal nationalism’ has replaced ’coal colonialism’ in the country, turning this commodity into an icon, a national symbol. In recent years the extraction of coal in forest-covered resource peripheries has dispossessed and pauperised many tribal and rural communities who have used these resource-rich lands for their livelihoods for generations. The combustion of coal to produce electricity constitutes the compelling need, and the factor that prevents the Indian state from fully engaging with the impending realities of a climate-changed future. All these reasons make the timing of this book of crucial importance. In particular, The Coal Nation explores the complex history of coal in India; from its colonial legacies to contemporary cultural and social impacts of mining; land ownership and moral resource rights; protective legislation for coal as well as for the indigenous and local communities; the question of legality, illegitimacy and illicit mining and of social justice. Presenting cutting-edge multidisciplinary social science research on coal and mining in India, The Coal Nation initiates a productive dialogue amongst academics and between them and activists.

This latest year-long period of research on the Mexican economy was marked by a sense of reflection and reinvention in the business community. As the world continues to restructure itself in the wake of COVID-19 and the subsequent disruption to the global supply chain, players in the country are continuing to discover Mexico's role in this new reality. In this 246-page edition, which features interviews with top business leaders from across the economy, as well as news and analysis, we cover: green economy, finance, energy, mining, industry, mining and telecoms, logistics, security, construction, real estate, agriculture, health, education, tourism, and sports.

The Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Review of Zambia has three fundamental goals. Its first goal is to offer Zambia an assessment of activities and institutions that make up its innovation ecosystem. The second goal is to draw attention to important socio-economic development questions for Zambia. Special attention has been placed on four such questions: gender, food, mining and digital transformation. The third goal is to provide recommendations for strengthening STI policy and propose measures that may improve national technological capacities and encourage innovation.