Artisanal frontier mining of gold: labour transformation in Africa Article by Deborah Fahy Bryceson and Sara Geenen To be published in African Affairs 2016 Introduction African labour trajectories Trajectory of African artisanal mining Artisanal frontier mining Labour transformation Tanzania and Democratic Republic of Congo Conclusion Future trajectories 2 3 Choice of work in modernist societyChoice of work in traditional society A FRICAN LABOUR TRAJECTORIES Occupational patterns have changed Structural adjustment => loss of formal jobs Decline in value of agricultural products => deagrarianization Urbanization => expansion of services sector 4 A FRICAN LABOUR TRAJECTORIES Labour-intensive mineral extraction on the basis of minimal capital investment, the use of manual tools and devices or simple portable machinery 5 T RAJECTORY OF A FRICAN ARTISANAL MINING 1980s No research Formal economies in crisis artisanal mining boom 1990s NGOs and donors Socio- economic and environm. impact 2000s Academic research Economic livelihoods Informality Conflict Now Academic research Sectoral dynamics 6 T RAJECTORY OF A FRICAN ARTISANAL MINING Themes in ASM research 1980s No research Formal economies in crisis rise of artisanal mining 1990s NGOs and donors Socio- economic and environm. impact 2000s Academic research Economic livelihoods Informality Conflict Now Academic research Sectoral dynamics 7 T RAJECTORY OF A FRICAN ARTISANAL MINING Themes in ASM research 1980s No research Formal economies in crisis rise of artisanal mining 1990s NGOs and donors Socio- economic and environm. impact 2000s Academic research Economic livelihoods Informality Conflict Now Academic research Sectoral dynamics 8 T RAJECTORY OF A FRICAN ARTISANAL MINING Themes in ASM research 9 T RAJECTORY OF A FRICAN ARTISANAL MINING Economic livelihoods Informality Conflict Individual livelihood choices, push-pull factors, poverty and income, diversification Informality and illegality, formalization, governance, relations with the state Conflict minerals, financing conflicts, human rights abuses and forced labour 1980s No research Formal economies in crisis rise of artisanal mining 1990s NGOs and donors Socio- economic and environm. impact 2000s Academic research Economic livelihoods Informality Conflict Academic research Sectoral dynamics 10 T RAJECTORY OF A FRICAN ARTISANAL MINING Themes in ASM research 11 Academic research Sectoral dynamics Artisanal frontier mining T RAJECTORY OF A FRICAN ARTISANAL MINING Turner (1893): American western frontier Area of untapped potential, new democratic society based on hard-earned efforts of migrant settlers Imposition of central government, resistance by miners Kopytoff (1989): pre-colonial African frontiers Political expansion of African kingdoms into peripheral spaces Imposition of power, culture, values of core on periphery 12 A RTISANAL FRONTIER MINING Transformation of work activity 13 A RTISANAL FRONTIER MINING Placer deposits: panning for gold Miners adapt to changing mineral availability through teamwork and specialized division of labour Underground deposits: hard rock excavation 14 L ABOUR TRANSFORMATION Placer mining Panning and sluicing techniques Little investment, small returns Underground mining Hard-rock excavation and processing Investment in manpower, money and time 15 L ABOUR TRANSFORMATION Age, level of education, class Physically fit, risk taking men Gender Miners start with little experience, social levelling effect, make careers, specialization Professional group 16 L ABOUR TRANSFORMATION 17 Financiers PML owners Traders Lease or prefinance Organizers Pit holders PDGRisks and costs Labourers Work specialization Profits unpredictable, output sharing 1. Social Breaking away from parents and social control Urban, cosmopolitan and multi-ethnic environment Low entry barriers, social levelling 2. Psychological Masculine identity and status Spending patterns Conspicuous consumption and individual wealth 18 L ABOUR TRANSFORMATION 3. Economic Unpredictable earnings Hope of striking it rich Compelling luck Independence and freedom highy valued 19 L ABOUR TRANSFORMATION Wild West Weak state presence Miners have room for exercising agency and collective self-governance Professional norms and governance 20 L ABOUR TRANSFORMATION Professional norms and governance Honesty, trustworthiness, responsibility and loyalty Internal order of business Managing conflicts between pits Committees, associations, cooperatives 21 Rush sites Boom sites Settled sites 22 L ABOUR TRANSFORMATION Artisanal mining may be an individual livelihood choice, but it also initiates a process in which individuals skill acquisition, economic exchange, psychological reorientation and social positioning evolve towards a shared occupational identity and professional norms taking shape largely outside of state regulation 23 L ABOUR TRANSFORMATION Artisanal mining may be an individual livelihood choice, but it also initiates a process in which individuals skill acquisition, economic exchange, psychological reorientation and social positioning evolve towards a shared occupational identity and professional norms taking shape largely outside of state regulation 24 Labour transformation L ABOUR TRANSFORMATION Artisanal mining may be an individual livelihood choice, but it also initiates a process in which individuals skill acquisition, economic exchange, psychological reorientation and social positioning evolve towards a shared occupational identity and professional norms taking shape largely outside of state regulation 25 L ABOUR TRANSFORMATION Tanzania Democratic Republic of Congo 26 T ANZANIA AND D EMOCRATIC R EPUBLIC OF C ONGOUnited Nations TanzaniaDRC 1970sStructural adjustment: agrarian production decline Structural adjustment: large-scale mining decline 1980sArtisanal mining allowed on restricted scale 1990sEconomic liberalization: artisanal mining boom, large-scale mining boom Large-scale mining decline War: artisanal mining boom, conflict minerals Legisl ation Investor-friendly Artisanal miners : licenses (PML) Investor-friendly Artisanal miners: licenses Practi ce Few PML holders, difficult to access license Few artisanal mining zones, difficult to access license Low state capacity Customary chiefs FuturePriority to large-scale miningArtisanal mining reform (nat/internat), priority to large-scale mining 27 T ANZANIA AND D EMOCRATIC R EPUBLIC OF C ONGO Frontiers temporality Eventual demise due to changing physical, economic and/or political circumstances Future? 1.Move to legal artisanal mining zones 2.Continue work adjacent to large-scale mining (legally or illegally) 3.Alternative livelihoods (subsistence farming) 4.Invest in alternative economic activities (business) 5.Invest in semi industrial mining 28 C ONCLUSION 29 30 T HANK YOU !