Conflicts in marginal locations: Small-scale gold-mining in the Amazon

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. Researchers of the GOMIAM consortium 1 have worked on conflicts surrounding small-scale gold-mining in the Amazon since 2010. We understand conflict in a broad sense and have studied many different forms of it, ranging from armed conflict and environmental conflict, to conflicts of interest between local populations and migrant miners, between large-scale mining and small-scale mining, between local, regional and national governments on issues of small-scale mining, and even between small-scale miners and other small-scale miners, like between equipment owners and operators. GOMIAM researchers work in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Peru and Suriname. All the various types of conflicts we mentioned have increased dramatically because of the tremendous growth of small-scale gold-mining, but are also seen in medium-and large-scale gold-mining. Environmental issues are among the most prominent causes of conflict. The environmental threats connected to gold-mining include deforestation and air and water pollution from cyanide and mercury contamination. Polluting effects