'Mining women' and livelihoods: Examining the dominant and emerging issues in the ASM gendered economic space

Ofosu, George; Sarpong, David; Torbor, Mabel; Asante, Shadrack

Abstract

The intractable challenges faced by female mine workers have come to dominate the discourse and scholarship on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) operations. However, the extensive focus on the informal and labour-intensive segments has engendered a failure to capture the nuances in the duality of ASM operations and how it impacts female outcomes. Drawing on intersectionality as a lens, in this article the authors map the dynamics on how issues related to the gender, situatedness and positionality of female mine workers interact to shape their situated labour outcomes. Highlighting the differentiated outcomes for female mine workers within the contingencies of the broader socio-cultural context in which ASM work is organised, the article sheds light on how the social identity structures such as gender, sexuality and class interact to give form to the marginalisation, occupational roles, the 'boom town' narrative and occupational and health challenges that characterise the ASM gendered economic space.

Citation

Ofosu, G., Sarpong, D., Torbor, M., & Asante, S. (2024). 'Mining women' and livelihoods: Examining the dominant and emerging issues in the ASM gendered economic space. Economic and Industrial Democracy, https://doi.org/10.1177/0143831X23121256

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 19, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Jan 9, 2024
• Publication Date: Jan 9, 2024
• Deposit Date: Sep 9, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 13, 2024
• Journal: Economic and Industrial Democracy
• Print ISSN: 0143-831X
• Electronic ISSN: 1461-7099
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0143831X23121256
• Keywords: Article reuse guidelines: sagepubcom/journals-permissions Keywords Artisanal and small-scale mining; gender; inequality; women
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/39446105
• Publisher URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0143831X231212562