Publication Date:
2019
Description:
〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉
〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 123〈/p〉
〈p〉Author(s): Sara Geenen〈/p〉
〈div xml:lang="en"〉
〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉
〈div〉〈p〉By zooming in on the concept of ‘local content’, this article speaks to the debate on extractive industries and development. It challenges two fundamental assumptions of the mainstream local content literature: that production linkages will develop if an enabling environment is created, and that local content is beneficial for local people. Based on almost 600 interviews and focus groups in four mining concessions in Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) it focuses on how local content policies are translated into concrete practices – more particularly around the granting of contracts and employment. In doing so it unravels the 〈em〉political〈/em〉 dimensions of local content policies and their 〈em〉structural embeddedness〈/em〉 in large-scale extractivist projects. It is argued that local content policies are implemented in complex political arenas, where the power holders use them as political instruments to enhance profit accumulation and control rents. Moreover they are embedded in the structural dynamics that permeate large-scale extractivist projects, producing (new) patterns of exclusion.〈/p〉〈/div〉
〈/div〉
Print ISSN:
0305-750X
Electronic ISSN:
1873-5991
Topics:
Geography
,
Political Science
,
Sociology
