Mining, Political Settlements, and Inclusive Development in Peru

Abstract

Abstract This chapter examines how political factors have influenced mineral extraction, governance, and development in Peru since the late nineteenth century. It argues that the legacies of the past have weighed heavily in contemporary governance, but also points to periods in which shifting political alliances and agency aimed to alter past legacies and introduce positive institutional change. The chapter identifies three periods with distinct and relatively stable arrangements for the distribution of power. For the most recent, post-2000 period, it discusses how government responses to social conflict included the creation of institutions to redistribute mining rents, regulate environmental impacts, and promote indigenous participation. However, it argues that political instability and fragmentation have inhibited the effectiveness of these institutions and of longer-term policymaking in general, which in turn explains Peru’s persistent reliance on natural resource extraction and the challenges to more inclusive and sustainable development.