Petty commodity production in artisanal and small-scale mining : a comparative study of Ghana and South Africa

Abstract : The rapid expansion of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) has raised questions on the nature of transformations occurring in African economies. This study addresses two problems: first, to explain the persistence of ASM in the contemporary period; second, to explain why ASM does not become Large-Scale Mining (LSM). Literature on ASM has tended to focus on phenomenal aspects, to the neglect of the processes shaping of the evolution of the sector. Classical Marxism provides the theoretical tools to analyse capital as a process but remains limited in scope. Jarius Banaji provides a holistic account of capitalist development which integrates an understanding of its heterogeity that is relevant to the Global South. Banaji lays a foundation for empirical investigations into multiple forms of exploitation that are subsumed under capitalism. In this framework, Banaji integrates pre-capitalist forms of production which are subsumed under capitalism. This thesis attempts to go beyond Marx and Banaji by expanding the conceptual framework to grapple with empirical evidence drawn from tracing the evolution of cases of petty commodity production and petty capitalism in Ghana and South Africa. The study draws on empirical evidence from ASM in gold mining which has been historically embedded in the emergence of LSM operations in both countries. The case studies centred on ‘illegal’ ASM known as ‘galamsey’ in Obuasi, a mining town in Ghana. In South Africa, empirical evidence was drawn from ‘illegal’ ASM in the Gauteng Province known as ‘zama zama’. Interviews were conducted with twelve galamsey miners, including financiers, in Ghana and twelve zama zama miners in South Africa. This comparison reveals significant similarities, most notably, that petty commodity producers and petty capitalists fill a gap left by LSM and the state. ASM persists because of its distinctive character which is shaped by interactions between the elements’ logic, orientation and linkages. The distinctive character has bearing on opening up possibilities for alternatives, if the means of production are socialised. ASM does not become LSM mainly due to exogenous forces, with the state playing a dominant and contradictory role. I conceptualise this as mediated disarticulation. The original contribution of this study is to compare two country cases of petty commodity production and petty capitalism in Africa, and conceptualise the elements and forces that shape their evolution.D.Litt. et Phil. (Sociology