Actors and repertoires of contention

Industrial mining is currently one of the fastest growing sectors of the world economy, particularly in the Global South. The present mining boom is, however, accompanied by numerous conflicts: conflicts over labour relations, over territorial control and access to water and land resources, over the effects on local livelihoods, on gender relations and ecological systems, and over the distribution of profits and tax revenues. In this paper, a typology of mining conflicts is developed, starting with existing case studies of current conflicts over industrial mining in sub-Saharan Africa and building on my own research in Burkina Faso. In contrast to existing typologies, the one presented here is based not on the subjects of the conflicts but on actor constellations: conflicts between trade unions and mining companies; between civil society organisations on the one hand and the state and mining companies on the other; and between artisanal miners and mining companies. I argue that historically shaped socio-ecological and socio-economic conditions, namely the existing land usages, have a crucial effect on the actors and actor constellations in conflicts over mining, and that different actors have different means of engaging in conflict at their disposal, and thus rely on different repertoires of contention when engaging in collective conflicts.Der industrielle Bergbau ist gegenwärtig einer der am stärksten wachsenden Wirtschaftssektoren weltweit, insbesondere im Globalen Süden. Der aktuelle Bergbau-Boom geht mit einer Vielzahl an Konflikten einher: um Arbeitsbeziehungen, um territoriale Kontrolle und den Zugang zu Wasser- und Landressourcen, um die Auswirkungen auf lokale livelihoods, auf Geschlechterverhältnisse und Ökosysteme sowie um die Verteilung der Gewinne und Steuereinnahmen. Dieses Kapitel entwickelt ausgehend von bestehenden Fallstudien zu gegenwärtigen Konflikten um den industriellen Bergbau in Subsahara-Afrika sowie aufbauend auf eigene Forschungen in Burkina Faso eine Typologie von Bergbaukonflikten. Anders als bestehende Typologien konzentriert sich diese nicht auf die Konfliktgegenstände, sondern auf die Akteurskonstellationen der Konflikte: zwischen Gewerkschaften und Unternehmen; zivilgesellschaftlichen Organisationen auf der einen und Staat und Unternehmen auf der anderen Seite; und zwischen Akteuren des handwerklichen und industriellen Bergbaus. Ich argumentiere, dass historisch geformte sozial-ökologische und sozio-ökonomische Bedingungen, insbesondere die bestehenden und vorherigen Formen der Landnutzung, wesentlichen Einfluss auf die Akteurskonstellationen in Konflikten um die Ausweitung des industriellen Bergbaus haben. Die Akteurskonstellationen wiederum bedingen die Mittel des Konfliktaustrags: Unterschiedliche Akteure haben unterschiedliche Mittel zur Verfügung und greifen entsprechend auf unterschiedliche „repertoires of contention“ in kollektiven Konflikten zurück

Economía y mercado en la minería tradicional mexicana, 1873-1929

This article studies the behaviour of the Mexican traditional mining industry, with deep historical roots, in a world scenery determined by the two great depressions of 1873-1874 and 1929-1932. The modernization of the productive system is analyzed, together with the enterprise strategies to get round the pitfalls imposed by the international market of metals (cost/benefit) and the low propensity of the great silver and gold producting firms to widen the internal market.En este artículo de estudia el comportamiento de la industria minera tradicional mexicana, de hondas raíces históricas, en un escenario internacional marcado por dos grandes depresiones: la de 1873-1874 y la de 1929-1932. Se destaca la modernización del aparato productivo, y se analizan las estrategias empresariales para sortear los escollos impuestos por el mercado internacional de metales (costos/beneficios) y la baja propensión de las grandes empresas productoras de plata y oro a la ampliación del mercado interno

Influence of additional stress caused by mining subsidence on blast furnace in metallurgical mining area

Underground goaf in metallurgical mining area leads to surface subsidence and has destructive effect on blast furnace. This paper studies the influence of underground goaf on blast furnace.The overlying strata and surface subsidence due to the formed gob area after the underground mining led to a different degree of destruction to blast furnace. Hence, blast furnace was modeled to theoretically analyze the additional stress applied to blast furnace body and foundation when withstanding the surface deformation. On this basis, the anti-deformation structure was designed to analyze the influences of Class I - IN surface deformation on the setting of Blast furnace body unit

Living with mega-cavity

With the future depletion of mineral resource, huge quarry pits will be remained in many areas in Massachusetts. They are like vast “scars” laying beside the urban fabric which create a sense of “urban sublime”. They exist abhorrently but definitely have significant influence on the region at many levels, such as ecology, hydrology, economy and society. Moreover, the abandoned mine pits have become a global environmental issue. How to deal with these “scars” will be a vital topic in the future. In phase 1, the researcher focused on the study of quarries in Massachusetts and the recognition of “Urban Sublime” in the West Roxbury Quarry and neighborhood. The research was conducted by doing site visit, information gathering and analyzing, and collaging. In phase 2, a developed study of the site, West Roxbury Quarry and the neighborhood, was made by doing interviews with local residents, mapping of current conditions and model making. The thesis question was clarified as “How can a framework plan for the West Roxbury neighborhood stage a series of sublime experiences while transforming the community’s relationship to the site over the next thirty years(2020-2050) from a working quarry to an urban park?” Finally, the design intervention, a phased framework plan, was proposed in the third phase. The framework includes three phase plans and each phase is incorporated with urban sublime specifically. The landscape transformation from a working quarry to an urban park also rebuilds the relationship between the quarry and the neighborhoo

Labour markets of postindustrial regions in the time of economic crisis on the example of South Wales and the Silesian Voivodeship - a comparative analysis

Unfinished restructuring of the mining industry can be a source of social instability in the Silesian voivodeship in the coming years. Decreasing demand for coal, wider use of alternative energy sources, cheaper import of raw materials from Ukraine or Russia will lead to redundancies in this sector of economy. Moreover, the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol of which Poland is one of signatories, force Polish government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are produced during the coal combustion. This is another factor that may significantly affect the reduction of employment in the mining sector. Another danger facing the regional labour market is the replacement of the mining companies with the companies that represent the automotive industry. As a result a new monoculture is appearing on the local market of the Silesian voivodeship now. This industry is, as the recent economic crisis has showed, particularly exposed to economic fluctuations which lead to the structural unemployment. Therefore authorities should try to diversify the structure of the regional economy by new investments and not to allow to concentrate companies from the same sector on a small area. The Silesian voivodeship needs more jobs in the service and high technology sectors which would limit the migration of young, well-educated people. In the case of South Wales the share of these sectors in its economy is greater than in the case of the Silesian voivodeship. Despite this a large percentage of native inhabitants of South Wales decide to emigrate but at the same new ones from other parts of Wales and different parts of the UK come and settle down. This explains the positive net migration, as well as the positive natural increase. Despite this and despite the fact that the impact of the economic crisis on Wales was so drastic the increase in the unemployment rate during the crisis period was smaller in South Wales than in the Silesian voivodeship. This can be explained not only by more multicultural structure of its economy but also by the differences as far as the number of young people at the age of 15−24 who are economically active and the number of people working at part-time jobs is concerned. The labour markets of both of these regions have experienced negative consequences of the economic crisis, but in the case of South Wales unless the influx of new population had not been so significant these consequences would probably have been less severe. However, further research in this field is required

Seabed minerals in Norway. An analysis of conflicts and sustainability issues.

The increasing demand for metals for use in renewable technologies and electronics has led to a surge in the interest in the minerals found on the seabed. The demand is driven by the need for green technologies to reach climate goals, population growth, and environmental, social, and economic challenges with today’s mining methods on land. Deep-sea mining is an industry still in its infancy, and there is currently no commercial exploitation taking place, but several countries are looking to exploit marine minerals either within their jurisdictional zones or in the Area, the common heritage of mankind. There has been significant opposition to the marine minerals industry due to environmental, social, and legal challenges, which led to several countries signing an international moratorium in the fall of 2021. Norway is one of few countries that voted against the moratorium and has initiated an opening process for deep-sea mining on the Norwegian continental shelf.This thesis analyzes the drivers and motivations for deep-sea mining, how a marine mineral industry aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, why Norway has decided to take a different approach to seabed mining than most other countries, and the sustainability issues raised in the impact assessment program related to the opening process on the Norwegian continental shelf. Questions of sustainability, the Precautionary Principle, risk, and decision-making under uncertainty are considered. The study uses both primary and secondary data. The primary data was collected through three semi-structured interviews. The secondary data used for this thesis were public consultation documents, White Papers, UN reports, and peer-reviewed scientific literature. Based on the analysis, the thesis suggests that ultimately, the society must make choices if we are to succeed with both the transition to a low- carbon emission future and in meeting the needs of a growing population. However, making decisions under uncertainty is challenging, deciding how much risk one is willing to take and how much weight to give precautionary measures. This decision is likely to not rely entirely on scientific knowledge, but also on political interests, social values, and technological development