Dissertaion Research: Political Ecology of Land Use in Suriname

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This project involves the dissertation research of an anthropology student from the University of Florida, studying the household-level effects of small-scale gold mining in Suriname. Focusing on Maroon as well as Amerindian populations in the rural interior of the country, the project will investigate why some men work at mining and some do not, and the effects of mining on the agricultural system of the villages and on the labor of women. Using ethnographic methods of participant observation and local surveys the project will test hypotheses about the role of capital and social resources in facilitating access to mining camps, that the household males' labor in mining inversely correlates with females' labor in farming, and that social capital variables of ethnic discrimination, education and cash income affect mining involvement. The student will also interview participants in the mining economy from NGOs, the government and multinational corporations to understand the wider contexts of the rural mining industry. This research is important because it increases our knowledge of this important region of the world, as well as advances our understanding of the decision making processes of rural tropical individuals and households. Improved understanding of why households engage in off-farm work and the impacts of that work on agricultural practices is important to policy makers concerned about rural development and tropical deforestation.