Mining God’s way: towards mineral resource justice with artisanal gold miners in East Africa

The daily livelihood practices of artisanal gold miners have social, economic, environmental, and governance impacts. Three situations were observed in East Africa, where interventions towards improving livelihoods or mitigating these impacts, have resulted in impasses. These impasses are engaged through a four stage model of practical theology. In stage one the situation is described, contrasting present practices with the published standards of ethical and fair trade organisations, intending to improve miners’ livelihoods. The second (analytical) stage includes the ordinary theologies, ethics, and practices of Christian miners, as well as the academic research community who are directly involved in this sector or are development and justice theorists. In the third stage, theologians addressing justice, and certain Scriptural characteristics and purposes (ways) of the Christian God, are brought to reflect on these impasses. Formulating more faithful, practices, in stage four, resulted in initial attempts or proposals to overcome these impasses. The thesis is the first to study these impasses through a critical conversation constructed from Christian (theological), social science (theoretical), and technical (practical) points of view.
Through these conversations, the predicaments are interpreted as requiring the intentions, means and ends of social, economic and environmental dimensions of justice that ought to be practised in the situation. Formulating these means and ends will require collaboration between Christians applying practical theologies, using the values of critical holism, development wisdom and intelligent love. The intentions of mining God’s way are to please God; through conforming to Biblically revealed, divine ways. The thesis culminates in an understanding of just resource development as the appropriate means for mining God’s way, and mineral resource justice under God, as its particular ends in the situation.
The research findings inform present and future Christian mission to promote shalom, through the blessing of mineral resources won by artisan miners.