Fried eggs and all-women gangs: the geopolitics of Chinese gold mining in Ghana, bodily vulnerability, and resistance

Abstract

Between 2008 and 2016, more than 50,000 Chinese citizens migrated to Ghana to mine gold on small-scale concessions. This is particularly surprising given that small-scale mining is an activity reserved for Ghanaian citizens. Foreign gold mining is mediated by various intersecting political economic and geopolitical shifts, including unprecedented gold demand, economic crisis, and informal conditions to Chinese loans. Based on long-term, mixed-methods fieldwork, and drawing from feminist geopolitics research, we argue Ghana’s recent gold rush portends gendered implications for bodies in rural areas. We center our discussion on bodies to demonstrate the ways extractive practices increase vulnerability among women and children, including teen pregnancy and mercury exposure. Yet, women also contest foreign mining and its myriad implications (e.g., refusing to sell land and entering sites while menstruating despite being “forbidden” to do so). A feminist geopolitics perspective allows the tracing of specific political economic processes (Chinese monetary policies, informal loan conditions) to other sites (Pokukrom, the pregnant teen), thereby enabling a clearer understanding of how supportive interventions might occur.

Socio-demographic factors affecting artisanal and small-scale mining (galamsey) operations in Ghana

“…Moreover, the test of association of the respondents’ employment status with respect to participation in galamsey operations was not statistically significant (p-value = 0.054 > 0.05). This finding goes to buttress the findings from the steadily growing literature that reported that galamsey has become the most attractive informal sector job in developing countries ( Hausermann et al., 2020 ; Osumanu, 2020 ; Tuokuu et al., 2020 ; Mabe et al., 2021 ).…”

“…And if not for the growing illegality and massive environmental destructions associated with the operations, ASM is the exclusive right of the natives ( Akabzaa and Darimani, 2001 ; Ofosu-Mensah, 2010 ). Additionally, the position of migrants in the galamsey sector has been highlighted ( Nyame et al., 2009 ; Hilson et al., 2014 ; Antwi-Boateng and Akudugu, 2020 ), but fortunately for the Upper West Region, the devastating environmental effect of the illegal Chinese migrants including worsening social consequences in local mining communities as reported by a large body of the literature ( Hilson et al., 2014 ; Hilson, 2017 ; Botchwey and Crawford, 2018 ; Antwi-Boateng and Akudugu, 2020 ; Hausermann et al., 2020 ) were dim in this study.…”

“…As it stands, in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) alone, about 20 million artisanal and small-scale miners, and 100 million associated beneficiaries are chronicled ( Hilson, 2017 ). However, the increasing illegality and clandestine manoeuvrings of the miners continue to mar the prospects of the ASM sector in the sub-region–Ghana, in particular ( Forkuor et al., 2020 ; Osumanu, 2020 ; Tuokuu et al., 2020 ; Hausermann et al., 2020 ).…”

“…Consequently, the local miners teamed up with the illegal Chinese miners who are technologically resourced to engage in galamsey. Thus, the use of heavy machines (excavators) by the Chinese illegal miners in the galamsey sector further increased the environmental consequences ( Antwi-Boateng and Akudugu, 2020 ; Hausermann et al., 2020 ), such as pollution of water bodies and degradation of arable lands and forest reserves ( Boadi et al., 2016 ; Hilson, 2017 ; Bansah et al., 2018 ; Owusu et al., 2019 ; Obeng et al., 2019 ; Forkuor et al., 2020 ). Because of the increasing environmental consequences, media groups (e.g.…”

Unsettled Belonging in Complex Geopolitics: Refugees, NGOs, and Rural Communities in Northern Colorado

“…While a feminist geopolitics approach examines how such doings and sayings impact bodily vulnerability and experiences [53,54], researchers also examine and practice ways to build more just and livable worlds [55,56]. Much of this work explores resistance as small, gendered, and everyday acts.…”