Mining for change? Youth livelihoods and extractive industry investment in Sierra Leone

Abstract

Over the past two decades, neoliberal reforms, soaring commodity prices and heightened global resource demands have led to significant growth in extractive industry investment across sub-Saharan Africa. A surge of investment has triggered a variety of responses in mineral-rich communities -from outright rejection, to protest over labour conditions, to acceptance in anticipation of gainful employment. Drawing on recent research carried out in Kono District in Sierra Leone, this article critically explores these contrasting responses to mining activities, by focusing on how youth perceive and respond to extractive industry expansion. In doing so, the paper broadens understanding of why youth perceptions of mining investment differ, and illuminates the various factors underlying a diverse range of responses to the expansion of extractive industries. The focus on youth and its heterogeneity as a social category has important policy implications and the paper makes a contribution to understanding the dynamics and diversity of youth livelihood strategies in resource rich developing countries. In making a distinction between autonomous spaces of community-led development 'from below' and corporate controlled spaces of development 'from above', the article reflects on how youth perceptions of extractive industry expansion may also be influencing the ways in which mining companies understand and fashion their business and social responsibility strategies.

Mining, movements and sustainable development: Concepts for a framework

“…This can be as much the case for large‐scale mining as for artisanal and small‐scale mining (ASM). Indeed, just as it can be associated with narratives of illegality, ASM is also associated with narratives of livelihood and possibility that seek to reframe ideas about what ASM places might become as frontiers of new opportunities (Hilson, Hilson, Maconachie, McQuilken, & Goumandakoye, ; Maconachie, ). In yet other cases, ASM may be framed in terms of its long‐standing, place‐based synergies with smallholder agriculture, as Spiegel () suggests for Cambodia, and Maconachie and Binns () suggest for Sierra Leone.…”

Creative Living off the Margins of the Niger Delta: Implications for Corporate Governance

“…Currently, it is considered as part of the corporate social responsibility (CSR), and delivered through 'corporate-community relations' . [24] This is justified on the grounds of either facilitating the 'social license to operate' [25,26] or compensating for any contribution to environmental degradation. [27,28] It may also be justified on the ground of business promotional measures, as well as on philanthropic grounds.…”

Social license to operate in the mining industry: the case of Peru

“…Literature on SLO shows that the concept has evolved over time. Holden and Jacobson (2006) and Maconachie (2014) in the Philippines and Sierra Leona, respectively, both analyze the concept of a model supporting the social license focused on specific groups of stakeholders. Browne, Stehlik and Buckley (2011), in Australia, and Koivurova et al (2015) in Nordic countries, relate social license with a vague concept that if awarded, would enable companies to obtain acceptance within the communities where they develop their projects.…”