Resisting large-scale mining The struggle against a large-scale mining company by the Guinaang tribe in Northern Luzon, the Philippines Master thesis International Development Studies Anton Neefjes Resisting large-scale mining The struggle against a large-scale mining company by the Guinaang tribe in Northern Luzon, the Philippines Anton Neefjes Student number: 910412597120
[email protected] MSc Thesis International Development Studies (MID) Department of Sociology of Development and Change Thesis code: SDC-80433 Wageningen University, January 2016 In cooperation with: the Center for Development Programs in the Cordillera (CDPC) Supervised by: dr. Elisabet Dueholm Rasch Abstract In resistance studies on resource conflict little attention has been paid to the micro-political ecology of resistance. This study addresses this gap by looking at a mining struggle carried out by an indigenous tribe in the mountains of the Cordillera, the Philippines, through a micro-political framework. The resistance carried out by members of the tribe is aimed at a large-scale gold and copper mining company. The form of resistance is that of rightful resistance. In brief, ‘rightful resistance’ means that people use the official legal and political channels of the government to make their claims (Li and O’Brien 1996). They use state power to combat corrupt government officials. This case study looks at how rightful resistance has successfully been used by members of the Guinaang tribe in preventing the Makilala mining company to mine in their place of residence. In particular, this study has analysed how the livelihood strategies of the people have influenced the way the people have engaged with the company.