ABSTRACT
Artisanal miners tend to be portrayed in the literature and media as ‘rough diamonds’, people who work and play hard and are likely to cross the boundaries of appropriate behaviour through pursuit of wealth and flamboyant living, often at the cost of local environmental damage. An alternative image is of marginalized labourers, driven by poverty to toil in harsh conditions, pursuing mining livelihoods in the face of national governments’ and large-scale mining companies’ subversion of their land and mineral rights. Both views reflect partial realities, but are inclined to exaggerate the position of miners as mischief-making rogues or downtrodden victims. Through documentation of the multifaceted nature of Tanzanian artisanal miners’ work and home lives during the country’s ongoing economic mineralization, we have endeavoured to convey a balanced rendering of their aspirations, occupational identity and social ties. Our emphasis has been on their working lives as artisans, the ways they contend with occupational risk, their social interaction and the influence of government policy and large-scale mining interests on their mining pursuits.
