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The Moral Politics of Gendered Labour in Artisanal Mining in Sierra Leone

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  • Blair Rutherford

Abstract

Drawing on current anthropological approaches to labour, this article examines some of the moral politics mobilized around women and artisanal mining in policy‐inflected scholarship with reference to particular gold mining zones in Tonkolili district, Sierra Leone. In so doing, the article proposes that such a focus on labour not only allows one to appreciate how sentiments concerning (im)proper behaviour infuse wider policy proposals to amend social arrangements in regard to what is called ‘artisanal mining’, but it also offers insight into some of the enduring moral politics helping to constitute women as ‘family workers’ in the actual artisanal gold mining zones. The article suggests that examining the overlapping moral politics constituting women's labour practices provides a more supple understanding of the contested economic possibilities for women in this livelihood practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Blair Rutherford, 2020. "The Moral Politics of Gendered Labour in Artisanal Mining in Sierra Leone," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 51(3), pages 771-793, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:devchg:v:51:y:2020:i:3:p:771-793
    DOI: 10.1111/dech.12584
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, 2015. "The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 10581.
    2. Andrew Grant, 2005. "Diamonds, Foreign Aid, and the Uncertain Prospects for Post-Conflict Reconstruction in Sierra Leone," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2005-49, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Hilson, Gavin, 2017. "Shootings and burning excavators: Some rapid reflections on the Government of Ghana's handling of the informal Galamsey mining ‘menace’," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 109-116.
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