Large‐scale mining, spatial mobility, place‐making and development in the Peruvian Andes

Abstract

This paper focuses on population mobility dynamics in and around mining areas in the Peruvian Andes. We use a case study of Rio Tinto's La Granja exploration project in Cajamarca Region to highlight the complexity and fluidity of the population movements around that project and the significant level of agency exercised by local people, as well as how people have been impacted by corporate decisions. We argue that, far from being a relatively static system of social and production relationships, the Andes has long been a place of movement, where individuals and families have used a broad range of mobility strategies to improve their economic well‐being and mitigate the impact of external shocks. In the case of La Granja, the use of such strategies has helped local people to cope with variations in the level of project activity, maintain a connection with the area (even while living outside of it), and to access project‐related benefits such as jobs and compensation payments. At some points in the history of the project, corporate decisions and actions have had a clearly deleterious impact on the local community. However, in more recent times the project also revitalised La Granja as a place, at least for a time, and created new opportunities for individuals and families. In the final section of the paper, we address some broader questions about the role that spatial mobility and family networks can play in diffusing the impacts and benefits of mining projects.

Negotiating belonging and place: an exploration of mestiza women’s everyday resistance in Cajamarca, Peru

“…After the Conga project was put on hold, heavy activism in Cajamarca largely died down. However, similar to Castillo and Brereton (2018)’s finding that, in terms of migration, even non-existing mining projects can permanently alter meaning-making regarding place, I argue here that local relationships between the urban and the rural may also be permanently altered through a shift in local meaning-making, in this case, as it occurred in the context of the non-realized Conga project.…”

Migration and forests in the Peruvian Amazon: A review

“…Migration can be cyclical over time. Castillo and Brereton (2018) found that as job opportunities declined in the La Granja in the Andes, many families moved either to urban areas on the coast or rural lands in the lowlands. Often, older members of the family stayed behind to watch the land and property.…”

AFTERWORD Places, migration and sustainability: anthropological reflections on mining and movement

“…The contributors to this special issue all note the economic determinants of migration into mining communities. Castillo and Brereton () observe that there can also be an outflow as people use benefits to move to towns “precisely because they present greater economic opportunities and offer better services”. Their strategies draw on social capital and familial networks to do so.…”

“…They flourish while the mine is operating and people depart when it closes. Castillo and Brereton () suggest that migration in and out of a mining area in Peru is determined mainly by the opportunities for employment or economic benefit, but that movements are also to be understood in terms of kinship and relational networks. Certainly, the motivations and strategies vary, but in Papua New Guinea, the initial influx of migrants is usually made up of people who have moved away from their “undeveloped” location for employment and return when the possibility arises in their own place.…”