'Age is just a number': Articulating the cultural dimension of child labour in Africa's small-scale mining sector. (September 2022)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- 'Age is just a number': Articulating the cultural dimension of child labour in Africa's small-scale mining sector. (September 2022)
- Main Title:
- 'Age is just a number': Articulating the cultural dimension of child labour in Africa's small-scale mining sector
- Authors:
- Gatsinzi, Angelique
Hilson, Gavin - Abstract:
- Abstract: This paper engages critically with socio-cultural debates on child labour in sub-Saharan Africa, with a view toward articulating more comprehensively why young boys and girls pursue so-called 'hazardous' work in the region's artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector. Today, a discourse of 'forced (child) labour' propelled by images of, and anecdotal claims made about, the ASM sector is being widely promoted across sub-Saharan Africa, despite little being known about the social context within which the region's children live. Drawing on a qualitative case study of child labour in Ghana's ASM sector, it is argued that, at the community level, views on maturity and readiness to enter the labour market contrast sharply with the ideas underpinning the concept of 'childhood' at the heart of legal and policy frameworks for child protection and child labour eradication. Both have historical roots in Western elite and middle-class milieus. Highlights: The paper engages critically with socio-cultural debates on child labour in sub-Saharan Africa. Critically examines the discourse propagated by donors on the Worst Forms of Child Labour (WFCL). Argues that Western perceptions and African perceptions of the WFCL differ markedly. Examines the cultural dimension of child labour in the context of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) in Africa. Draws on research carried out on child labour in ASM in Ghana.
- Is Part Of:
- Resources policy. Volume 78(2022)
- Journal:
- Resources policy
- Issue:
- Volume 78(2022)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 78, Issue 2022 (2022)
- Year:
- 2022
- Volume:
- 78
- Issue:
- 2022
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2022-0078-2022-0000
- Page Start:
- Page End:
- Publication Date:
- 2022-09
- Subjects:
- Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) -- Child labour -- Ghana -- Culture -- Poverty
Mines and mineral resources -- Periodicals
Ressources minérales -- Périodiques
Ressources naturelles -- Gestion -- Périodiques
Environnement -- Politique gouvernementale -- Périodiques
333.8 - Journal URLs:
- http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03014207 ↗
http://www.elsevier.com/journals ↗
http://www.journals.elsevier.com/resources-policy/ ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1016/j.resourpol.2022.102779 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 0301-4207
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - 7777.608600
British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 23328.xml