'Gold is our patrimony': Small mining, merchant capital, the state, and struggles over capitalist development in Nicaragua

This dissertation analyzes the changing relationships among non-capitalist forms of production, merchant and usurer's capital, and the state in shaping Nicaragua's path of capitalist development. It does so through a focus on the persistence of small-scale gold mining in the town of La Libertad, Chontales, over the past 150 years. It explores the ways in which the struggles over production and distribution of gold offer us a window into Nicaragua's past and present dynamics of dependent capitalism, imperialist intervention, authoritarian rule, revolution, and post-revolutionary transformation.; Using the example of La Libertad, the research explores how local dynamics were intimately linked to and shaped by regional, national, and international political economic processes. It also questions some of the dominant historical models of Nicaragua's transition to capitalism through an exploration of the intimate and changing relationships between small mining and forms of merchant and usurer's capital. The dissertation analyzes these relationships that both sustained and weakened small mining and how they contributed to multiple strategies of capital accumulation. Further, it documents how uneven processes of proletarianization and the changing nature of state policies shaped small miners' opposition to capitalist mining.; Through a detailed analysis of La Libertad's history of small mining, the dissertation also critiques dominant historical narratives of Nicaraguan mining. These narratives that emphasize the role of foreign investment, capitalist firms, and imperialism not only erase small miners from the historical record but also marginalize poor people's attempts to reproduce and defend their livelihoods. The dissertation contends that although they have been ignored by the academic literature and policy makers, the example of the small miners offers us important insights into the culture and political economy of interstitial groups all around the world. Finally, the project argues that despite the efforts of different Nicaraguan states and capitalist firms, small mining persists because of historical and contemporary struggles over resources, development, cultural identity, and rights to earn livelihoods.