Conference Review
Mining Across Generations: Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Conference
15 –
17 January 2009
This conference
was convened by Mette M. High (Fellow, London School of Economics) and Daniele
Moretti (British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, Cambridge). In collaboration with CRASSH and
with additional support from the Department of Anthropology of the London
School of Economics and CUSAS, the event brought together anthropologists,
geographers, environmental scientists, historians, and political scientists to
present and discuss research on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) in
Africa, Asia, Europe, Melanesia and South America.
The conference
featured a keynote speech by June Nash (Distinguished Professor Emerita, City
University of New York) that traced a number of epochal transformations in the
cosmology and political economy of mining in Bolivia from precolonial times to
the present. A further 11 papers were presented and commented by senior
scholars and PhD Students from Universities in Canada, Denmark, Germany,
Holland, the UK and the USA. Two explored historical transformations in beliefs
about gold in Colombia and Peru and their
relation to the incorporation of local communities in global gold trade
networks and different kinds of work relations with outside mining companies.
One outlined the development of property rights in mining legislation as it
moved from medieval Europe to Spain’s
American colonies. Three papers offered detailed case studies of how mining
booms and subsequent periods of decline due to the depletion of local deposits
and/or changes in international demand for minerals affected and were given
meaning by different generations of miners in three European, Madagascan, and
Melanesian locales. Another one showed how local actors appeal to the real or
imagined engagement of their forefathers in mining as a means of legitimising
their present rights to practice ASM vis-à-vis other local communities, migrant
miners, foreign developers, and the state. Three papers explored how different
generations of miners view child labour, the specific challenges and
opportunities that ASM offers to women who want to or must detach themselves
from their husbands and elder kin, and the youth politics that can emerge in
mining contexts. A final presentation examined why African rural dwellers
decide to enter mining and how this decision is affected by kinship connections
with already established miners, as well as revealing how local actors progress
through their mining careers and decide to move between different mining sites.
All papers contributed to the conference’s twofold aim of exploring how ASM unfolds historically and how it comes to shape and be shaped by intergenerational relations in miner and mining-impacted communities. They generated much lively discussion and allowed speakers and delegates to explore significant similarities and differences in ASM beliefs and practices through time and globally. Equally importantly, the interdisciplinary nature of the conference fostered an appreciation of the need for ASM scholars to engage more fully and systematically with the research methods and findings of colleagues working in different disciplinary fields and traditions. The event also included a discussion panel on fair trade gold that was open to all and which featured discussants from academia, the jewellery industry, and a consultancy firm. The panel was well attended and contributed to greater public awareness of the worse environmental and social impacts of ASM and the opportunities and challenges generated by recent initiatives to mitigate them through the extension of fair trade initiatives to the jewellery industry. It also led to the establishment of new connections between academics and industry representatives that have endured beyond the conference.
The convenors are deeply grateful to CRASSH for providing generous funding and logistical and organisational support that allowed them to secure the participation of excellent speakers from many countries and ensured the conference’s ultimate success. CRASSH also offered much appreciated assistance in advertising the event, thus ensuring good attendance by a diverse group of delegates. Its facilities were perfectly suited and ideally located for our presentations, panel and discussions, and on each of the three conference days official sessions were followed by informal discussions between speakers and delegates in various bars and restaurants and during a dinner at King’s College.
Daniele Morett
