Between violence and negotiation: Gold-rushes, gang violence, and negotiated access in artisanal gold mining along Zimbabwe's Great Dyke

Abstract

Using case studies from Zimbabwe's gold-rich Great Dyke geological formation, this study examines the anatomy of organized gang violence in artisanal gold mining communities and its impact on security and livelihoods. The article accounts for the emergence of gang violence in gold-rush areas and examines the organizational structures of the different types of gangs and the repertoires of violence they deploy. It argues that gang violence in artisanal gold mining should not be viewed as isolated incidences of gratuitous violence meted by drug-taking and machete-wielding gangs. Rather, there is a need for a nuanced examination of the root causes of the violence, regional variations, as well as the logic of different repertoires of violence. The article also seeks to understand the different ways in which artisanal miners negotiate access to gold-rush areas. Thus, it attempts to avoid a narrow characterization of gang violence in artisanal gold mining by using ethnographic data and analysis of secondary literature to provide a nuanced analysis of the anatomy of gang violence.