Abstract

This article examines hidden costs of three prominent mineral supply chain ‘solutions’ that respectively aim to create ‘conflict-free’ minerals, curtail corruption, and reduce mercury pollution. Our analysis underscores the heterogeneous ways in which global capitalism shapes regulatory injustices spanning multiple scales, illustrating how ‘clean’ mineral supply chain schemes can hide inequitable territorial and economic regimes of accumulation and labour exploitation resulting in social harms for artisanal and small-scale mining communities, negative environmental impacts, and the reproduction of extractive political economies dominated by large corporations. We argue for increased critical attention to how mineral supply chain schemes narrowly circumscribe spaces for pursuing counter-hegemonic ‘transformation’.

摘要

本文考察了三种主要矿产供应链“解决方案”的隐性成本，这些解决方案分别旨在创造“无冲突”矿产、减少腐败和减少汞污染。我们的分析强调了全球资本主义塑造跨越多个尺度的监管不公正的不同方式，说明“清洁”矿产供应链计划如何隐藏不公平的领土和经济积累和劳动剥削制度，从而对手工和小规模采矿社区造成社会危害，负面的环境影响，以及由大公司主导的采掘政治经济的再生产。我们主张加强对矿产供应链计划如何狭隘地限制追求反霸权“转型”的空间的批判性关注。