LUP accepted for SRO.pdf (1.76 MB)
Over-spilling institutions: the political ecology of ‘greening’ the small-scale gold mining sector in Guyana
This article applies a political ecology framework to examine the challenges of ‘greening’ Guyana’s relatively established small-scale gold mining sector. Based on a year of fieldwork conducted in Guyana’s gold mining landscape, the article highlights a range of ways in which the supposed stability and transparency of Guyana’s institutional mining framework is undermined by the dynamic and discretionary realities of actual small-scale gold mining activity. The tendency of mining activity to overspill institutional boundaries is contributing to worsening ecological conditions in the country’s interior. For miners, it is shown that, even having acquired or accessed formal property, they face various challenges (such as minimal state support, stressed conditions of production, and tenure insecurity) that compromise their ability to enact ‘green’ mining. The state meanwhile faces related challenges in ensuring that dynamic and fluid mining activity remains within its legal and literal boundaries. Overall, the article illustrates how the mainstream green mining ‘storyline’ – based on the notion of formal institutions as a disciplining or containing force – is disrupted by an intimate interaction among unruly socio-ecological realities.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Accepted version
Journal
Land Use PolicyISSN
0264-8377Publisher
ElsevierExternal DOI
Volume
85Page range
438-452Department affiliated with
- SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2019-05-30First Open Access (FOA) Date
2020-04-28First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2019-05-29Usage metrics
Categories
No categories selectedLicence
Exports
RefWorks
BibTeX
Ref. manager
Endnote
DataCite
NLM
DC