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Work and Masculinity in Katanga’s Artisanal Mines

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  • Jeroen Cuvelier

Abstract

This article, based on 16 months of anthropological fieldwork between 2005 and 2012, examines the relationship between work and masculinity among artisanal miners, or creuseurs, in Katanga, the southeastern province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It argues that men’s involvement in artisanal mining should be considered not only as an economic survival strategy but also as an attempt to experiment with new ways of being a man in a context of economic crisis and changing gender relations. Furthermore, the article criticizes the tendency to downplay or underestimate the complexity and diversity of processes of masculine identity construction in Africa’s artisanal-mining areas. In order to do justice to the intricacy of these processes, the article proposes using concepts and insights from the field of masculinity studies and distinguishing between a levelling and a differentiating trend in artisanal miners’ masculinity practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeroen Cuvelier, 2014. "Work and Masculinity in Katanga’s Artisanal Mines," Africa Spectrum, Institute of African Affairs, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 49(2), pages 3-26.
    • Handle: RePEc:gig:afjour:v:49:y:2014:i:2:p:3-26
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    File URL: http://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/giga/afsp/article/view/752
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    1. World Bank, 2008. "Democratic Republic of Congo : Growth with Governance in the Mining Sector," World Bank Publications - Reports 8072, The World Bank Group.
    2. Roy Maconachie & Gavin Hilson, 2011. "Artisanal Gold Mining: A New Frontier in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(4), pages 595-616.
    3. Erik Kennes, 2002. "Footnotes to the mining story," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(93-94), pages 601-606, September.
    4. Gavin Hilson & Mark Hirons & Gavin Hilson, 2011. "Artisanal Mining, Smallholder Farming And Livelihood Diversification In Rural Sub‐Saharan Africa: An Introduction," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(8), pages 1031-1041, November.
    5. Bryceson, Deborah Fahy & Jønsson, Jesper Bosse, 2010. "Gold Digging Careers in Rural East Africa: Small-Scale Miners' Livelihood Choices," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 379-392, March.
    6. Geenen, Sara, 2014. "Dispossession, displacement and resistance: Artisanal miners in a gold concession in South-Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 90-99.
    7. Filip De Boeck, 1998. "Domesticating Diamonds and Dollars: Identity, Expenditure and Sharing in Southwestern Zaire (1984–1997)," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 29(4), pages 777-810, October.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Werthmann, Katja, 2017. "The drawbacks of privatization: Artisanal gold mining in Burkina Faso 1986–2016," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 418-426.

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