Abstract
The relationship between mining and development is characterised by ‘contentiousness’ and ‘ambiguity’ (Bebbington et alii, 2008: 887): ‘Contentious because mining has so often delivered adverse social, environmental and economic effects for the many, but significant gains only for the few; ambiguous because of the abiding sense […] that just maybe mining could contribute much more.’ The most outspoken denouncers of these adverse effects on growth and equity are the advocates of the ‘resource curse’ thesis (Auty, 1993; Sachs and Warner, 1995). The thesis suggests that the abundant presence of natural resources generates a number of economic (mainly Dutch disease1 and revenue volatility) and political effects (bad governance, corrupt institutions), which will eventually undermine a country’s development.
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© 2011 Sara Geenen
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Geenen, S. (2011). Local Livelihoods, Global Interests and the State in the Congolese Mining Sector. In: Ansoms, A., Marysse, S. (eds) Natural Resources and Local Livelihoods in the Great Lakes Region of Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230304994_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230304994_8
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