Informal, Legal, or Illegal? Varieties of Artisanal Mining in the Global South

abstract: Artisanal mining in the Global South increased during the 2002–14 commodity boom, yet variation in the informal status of miners remains understudied. The authors define the status of artisanal mining based on the degree of rule compliance and the willingness of state actors to enforce such compliance: it is legal when the miners have formal permits to operate and follow state rules to mine, but it is illegal when the mining takes places in restricted natural reserves and noncompliance with state mining rules is extensive. The article explains transitions in the informal status of artisanal miners by examining the importance of mining to the local economy and the organizational asymmetries within the sector—that is, the differences in the associative strength of artisanal mining within a region. Where artisanal mining is central to the local economy, low asymmetries help miners transition to legality while high asymmetries, by contrast, push them toward illegality and criminality. The authors process trace these transitions in Peru’s most important gold-producing regions. The findings have broad implications for other small-scale producers and merchants whose activities are also known for widespread informality.