Global norm domestication and selective compliance: The case of Mongolia's Oyu Tolgoi mine

Abstract

AbstractMongolia is in the midst of one of the world's largest mining boom and the Gobi Desert is the construction site of what is expected to become the World's third‐largest gold‐copper mine: Oyu Tolgoi. The paper follows the case of Oyu Tolgoi to analyse how a complex array of global norms are being domesticated in the particular context of Mongolia. Building on data gathered in the course of three field visits to Mongolia and the literature rooted in critical political economy, it is argued that in Mongolia, the domestication of market‐oriented norms in extractive governance have taken precedence over any other international norms championed for the sector. In such light, and this is the second argument of the paper, this hierarchy embedded in the complex array of international norms that impact the mining sector has compelled the State to strategically cede some of its former roles and responsibilities to the private sector, leaving civil society elements—in the case of Oyu Tolgoi mine, local nomadic communities—with little recourse to address what is now a highly asymmetric relationship with Rio Tinto, the main shareholder of the mine.