Social welfare and gold mining: A comparative pilot study in Suriname and French Guiana

社会福利和金矿开采：苏里南和法属圭亚那的比较试点研究

• 批准号: 0221646
• 负责人: Ricardo Godoy
• 金额: $ 2.5万
• 依托单位: Brandeis University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2002
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2002-07-15 至 2003-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0221646&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Social; welfare; gold; mining; comparative

The question of how support from social welfare systems affects a household's economic reliance on natural resources is of interest in many social contexts. This pilot research by a cultural anthropologist will ask how forest peoples in Suriname and French Guiana participate in small-scale gold mining given access to national social welfare systems. Previous research suggests that gold mining in this area attracts large numbers of poor people, who have few subsistence alternatives, and a small number of relatively well off people, who can earn revenues by investing in mining equipment. The research predicts a U-shaped relation between access to social welfare and participation in gold mining, with poor people with the least access to welfare and rich people being the most likely to engage in mining. This hypothesis will be tested in two adjacent countries that are culturally and environmentally similar but differ in their systems of social welfare. The researchers will study three Maroon villages in Eastern Suriname and Western French Guiana, varying in their access to public services. Socioeconomic survey interviews will be carried out with fifty households in each village, ethnographic interviews and observations will be recorded at both sides of the border, and statistical information will be obtained from government offices and non-governmental organizations. Two U.S. graduate students will be trained in the fieldwork and will conduct their own research on comparative topics. Aside from contributing to the training of students in social science and advancing our understanding of the relation between access to welfare and work, the project will inform us about the relation between social welfare policy, socioeconomic development, and forest resource use and conservation.

在许多社会背景下，社会福利制度的支持如何影响家庭对自然资源的经济依赖的问题是令人感兴趣的。一位文化人类学家进行的这项试验性研究将询问苏里南和法属圭亚那的森林人民如何参与小规模的黄金开采，因为他们有机会获得国家社会福利制度。此前的研究表明，该地区的黄金开采吸引了大量穷人和少数相对富裕的人，前者几乎没有什么可维持生计的选择，后者可以通过投资采矿设备来赚取收入。该研究预测，获得社会福利与参与金矿开采之间存在U型关系，穷人获得福利的机会最少，而富人最有可能从事金矿开采。这一假设将在两个文化和环境相似但社会福利制度不同的相邻国家进行检验。研究人员将研究东苏里南和西法属圭亚那的三个栗色村庄，这些村庄获得公共服务的机会各不相同。将对每个村庄的50户家庭进行社会经济调查访谈，在边界两侧记录人种学访谈和观察，并从政府办公室和非政府组织获得统计资料。两名美国研究生将接受实地考察培训，并将就比较主题进行自己的研究。除了有助于对学生进行社会科学培训，并增进我们对获得福利和工作之间关系的理解之外，该项目还将向我们介绍社会福利政策、社会经济发展以及森林资源利用和保护之间的关系。