Driving forces of small-scale gold mining among the Ndjuka Maroons: A cross-scale socioeconomic analysis of participation in gold mining in Suriname

This dissertation addresses the question: Why do some people become small-scale gold miners, while others do not? Anthropological field research among the Ndjuka Maroons of Suriname, South America, provides the bases for the analysis. Interviews were conducted with gold miners and non-miners in gold mining camps, forest villages, and Paramaribo. Driving forces of small-scale gold mining are analyzed across spatial scales. The researcher integrates qualitative and quantitative methods to collect and analyze data, combining ethnography, participant observation, and decision modeling with econometrics.; Time-series analysis suggests that Ndjuka miners do not respond to fluctuations in global market prices of gold and oil. Within Suriname, high inflation and unemployment encourage gold mining. The impact of national political instability remains ambiguous. Ethnographic decision modeling indicates that gender and risk shape decisions about gold mining. Ndjuka men are expected to provide the household cash income. Men choose mining because other jobs are not available or pay insufficiently, they lack the education for better work, and mining offers freedom. For men, disappointing experiences in mining and physical inability were the only reasons to not be a gold miner. Only about five percent of Ndjuka miners are women. The study found empirical evidence that childcare responsibilities and limited access to money reduce the access of women to mining. The gender bias in mining is perpetuated by gender traditions, spousal objections, menstrual taboos, and the preference of women to not work in the mining area. Female miners were either family breadwinners or joined mining husbands.; Small-scale gold mining incorporates many physical and economic risks. The hypothesis that risk-tolerant individuals with back-up resources become gold miners was rejected. Rather, miners are generally individuals with many economic dependents and few income options. Risk theory is advanced by showing that male and female miners confront different risks, and by measuring and comparing risk attitudes of miners and non-miners. The research contributes to gender studies by exploring the linkages between gender inequality and access to gold mining. A general lesson from the study is that poverty coupled with the elimination of traditional job options encourages ecologically damaging resource use.