What is it about?

In the period 2002–12, the Peruvian economy almost doubled in size. This growth was mainly the consequence of the commodity boom in these years. The importance of the mining sector for the Peruvian Treasury is politically translated in the immense difficulties Peruvian Governments have in closing the doors to transnational mining corporations. The government of Ollanta Humala actually inserted the fiscal contribution of extractive industries into the cornerstone of its social policies. In Peru, a growing body of literature is emerging regarding mining issues. However, it lacks an analysis of the development of the mining sector in relation to the general workings of capitalism. In this article we analyze the development of mining in Peru from a critical political economy perspective as this enables us to identify the forces that are advancing the capitalist development process as well as the forces of resistance to this development.

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Why is it important?

In this article we elaborate on the political economy of mining in Peru. We consider it essential to analyze the economics and politics of natural resource extraction (mining, to be precise) from a critical political economy perspective. This enables us to identify both the forces of capitalist development and the forces of resistance to this development. Furthermore it might enable us to bring into focus proposals that structurally address economic and social issues related to the destructive operations of extractive capital in the form of open pit and other types of mining.

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This page is a summary of: Social Struggle and the Political Economy of Natural Resource Extraction in Peru, Critical Sociology, January 2014, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/0896920513501354.
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