Women, Mining and Development: An Emerging Research Agenda

Citation:

Author: Katy Jenkins

Abstract:

This critical review argues that the experiences and perspectives of women in relation to the extractive industries have often been absent from analysis of the impacts of mining in the global South. This paper therefore explores the ways in which women in developing countries are affected by the expansion of extractive industries, bringing together a dispersed literature, scattered across disciplines and relating to geographically diverse locations, in order to provide a comprehensive overview of key debates in relation to women and mining, and generate momentum for a new research agenda in this area. The review concentrates on four key intersecting areas – women as mineworkers; the gendered impacts of mining, and specifically the disproportionately negative impacts on women; women's changing roles and identities in communities affected by mining; and finally gendered inequalities in relation to the benefits of mining.

Keywords: women, mining, gendered inequalities, mining impacts, development

Topics: Development, Economies, Economic Inequality, Extractive Industries, Gender, Women, Gender Roles, Gender Analysis, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality

Year: 2014