Environmental governance and political contestation in contexts of illegal small-scale gold mining in Ghana

Leonora Kleppa Stærfeldt*, Paul Austin Stacey

*Corresponding author

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Abstract

Ghana experiences significant environmental harm from illegal small-scale gold mining. Despite government attempts to halt operations, countless sites exist around the country – enjoying local legitimacy, operating with seeming political impunity, and playing increasing roles in both local and national political economies. This article focuses on the environmental governance challenges and the underlying political organisational drivers, analysed from the perspectives of political settlement theory and contentious politics. This shows environmental governance challenges arising from the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) occupying an inferior position in relation to more powerful and competing state entities and endeavouring to fulfil mandates in highly contentious local social and political fields. Accordingly, we argue that challenges to environmental regulation are based in efforts to establish ruling coalition stability amidst fierce political and institutional competition, and which results in an informalisation of resource governance and lack of structural constraints on powerful actors.
OriginalsprogEngelsk
Artikelnummer104221
TidsskriftGeoforum
Vol/bind160
Antal sider10
ISSN0016-7185
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2025

Finansiering

Emneord

  • Environmental governance
  • Illegal small-scale gold mining
  • Political settlements
  • Informalisation
  • Ghana
  • Contentious politics
  • Institutional coalescence and illegal small scale gold mining in Ghana

    Stacey, P. A., 2025, I: World Development. 185, 11 s., 106808.

    Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelForskningpeer review

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