The State, Popular Mobilisation and Gold Mining in Mongolia ECONOMIC EXPOSURES IN ASIA Series Editor: Rebecca M. Empson, Department of Anthropology, UCL Economic change in Asia often exceeds received models and expecta- tions, leading to unexpected outcomes and experiences of rapid growth and sudden decline. This series seeks to capture this diversity. It places an emphasis on how people engage with volatility and flux as an omnipres- ent characteristic of life, and not necessarily as a passing phase. Shedding light on economic and political futures in the making, it also draws atten- tion to the diverse ethical projects and strategies that flourish in such spaces of change. The series publishes monographs and edited volumes that engage from a theoretical perspective with this new era of economic flux, exploring how current transformations come to shape and are being shaped by people in particular ways. The State, Popular Mobilisation and Gold Mining in Mongolia Shaping ‘Neoliberal’ Policies Dulam Bumochir First published in 2020 by UCL Press University College London Gower Street London WC1E 6BT Available to download free: www.uclpress.co.uk © Dulam Bumochir, 2020 The author and editor has asserted his rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from The British Library. This book is published under a Creative Commons 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0 International). This licence allows you to share, copy, distribute and transmit the work; to adapt the work and to make commercial use of the work providing attribution is made to the authors (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Attribution should include the following information: Bumochir, Dulam. 2020. The State, Popular Mobilisation and Gold Mining in Mongolia: Shaping ‘Neoliberal’ Policies. London: UCL Press. DOI: https://doi. org/10.14324/111.9781787351837 Further details about Creative Commons licences are available at http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/ Any third-party material in this book is published under the book’s Creative Commons licence unless indicated otherwise in the credit line to the material. If you would like to re-use any third-party material not covered by the book’s Creative Commons licence, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. ISBN: 978-1-78735-185-1 (Hbk) ISBN: 978-1-78735-184-4 (Pbk) ISBN: 978-1-78735-183-7 (PDF) ISBN: 978-1-78735-186-8 (epub) ISBN: 978-1-78735-187-5 (mobi) DOI: https://doi.org/10.14324/111.9781787351837 Contents List of acronyms vi Note on transliterations vii Acknowledgements viii Preface xi Introduction 1 1. The Reification of the National Economy 21 2. Beyond ‘Resource Nationalism’ 40 3. Navigating Nationalist and Statist Initiatives 60 4. Advocacy and Activism in Popular Mobilisations 81 5. The De-deification of the State 101 6. An Original Environmentalist Society 121 Conclusion 136 References 142 Index 155 v List of acronyms ADB Asian Development Bank CGM Cold Gold Mongolia ERC European Research Council FDI Foreign direct investment FN Fire Nation HWPC Homeland and Water Protection Coalition IMF International Monetary Fund GDAT Group for Debates in Anthropological Theory KAS Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung MDP Mongolian Democratic Party MNMA Mongolian National Mining Association MNPC Mongolian Nature Protection Coalition MPR Mongolian People’s Republic MPRP Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party MRPAM Mineral Resources and Petroleum Authority of Mongolia NUM National University of Mongolia ORM Ongi River Movement OT Oyu Tolgoi PRC People’s Republic of China TAF The Asia Foundation TNCs Transnational corporations UCL University College London UMMRL United Movement of Mongolian Rivers and Lakes US United States WB World Bank vi Note on transliterations For Mongolian Cyrillic transliteration, I adopted the MNS 5217:2012 standard approved by the National Council of Standardisation (Standartchillyn ündesnii zövlol 2012) of Mongolia. For Mongolian names of people, however, I had to follow the system General Authority for State Registration of Mongolia adopted to print names on Mongolian passports, which is the widely accepted system to write contemporary Mongolian names. The main difference between the MNS 5217:2012 standard and the registration authority standard appear in Mongolian Cyrillic letters such as Ө, Ү and У. In the state registration authority standard, the transliteration of the Mongolian Cyrillic Ө is U which is not different from the transliteration of the Mongolian Cyrillic Ү and У. In the MNS 5217:2012 standard, the transliteration of the Mongolian Cyrillic Ө is Ö, while the transliteration of the Mongolian Cyrillic Ү is Ü and У is U. For example, the name ‘Мөнх’ is ‘Munkh’, not ‘Mönkh’, in the state registration authority standard which I adopt in this book. Also, in the case of some well-known Mongolian names and words, I followed the most widely accepted versions in English literature. For example, ‘Буриад’, which should be ‘Buriad’ in the MNS 5217:2012 standard, often appears as ‘Buryat’ in English literature. For Mongolian classical script, known as Uyghur, Vertical or Old Mongolian script, I adopted B. I. Vladimirtsov’s (1971) system, except Q replaces KH, SH replaces Š, and GH replaces γ in some words that are already established. vii Acknowledgements I could not have written this book without the generosity, compassion, affection and trust of the many people who supported and shaped not only this book but also the period of my professional and personal life during the time it took to research and write it. First, I sincerely appreciate those who trusted and shared their life experiences, feelings, faith and hope during my fieldwork in Mongolia, and permitted me to write about them and their lives. Many of the prominent figures that I depict in this book – in the protest movements, in mining and in politics – have differing relationships that can lead to disagreements and conflicts, and they expect reactions of different readers who might critique, judge and blame them; still, all of them kindly allowed me to depict them here. For this reason, I ask readers to respect the actions, decisions and beliefs of the different agents and actors who will appear in this book. One of those prominent figures is Munkhbayar Tsetsegee, a founder and leader of the river movements. Together with his family, he welcomed me and my colleague Byambabaatar Ichinkhorloo to stay at his home during my field trips in Saikhan-Ovoo, Dundgovi, in the south of Mongolia. I also thank Bayarsaikhan Namsrai, another prominent founder of the movement, and Dashdemberel Ganbold, a lawyer of the movement, for providing invaluable information and research materials. The time I spent with these people in the movement helped me to discover the true meanings and realities behind the tag ‘green terrorists’. I was also able to uncover their concerns and relentless fight to protect the environment and lives of local people. I received invaluable help from some people in the mining industry, in order to depict the other side of the story. I sincerely thank Orgilmaa Zundui-Yondon and Danny Walker for permitting me to conduct field viii research at their gold mine site in Zaamar, in the central region of Mongolia. I was impressed with their advanced mining and rehabilita- tion technology, as well as their sincere efforts, time and deeds that they have dedicated to rehabilitate the environment. The same also applies to Chinbat Lhagva, a former geologist and miner, founder of Gantsuurt company, and his daughter (and my friend) Nomin Chinbat, and her husband (and my friend) Bat-Erdene Gankhuyag. I am grateful for their help as I tried to educate myself in the fields of geology and mining. In addition to those involved in the river movements and the mining industry, many other people helped shape this work. These include many technocrats and politicians, namely, Algaa Namgar, a metallurgical engineer and a director of the Mongolian National Mining Association (MNMA), and Jargalsaikhan Dugar, a mining economist and a former director of MNMA, who provided inestimable research materials and helped me to conduct field research. I am grateful to Algaa and Jargalsaikhan for helping me to meet and interview other people who had important political positions in the ruling institution of Mongolia – those are Ochirbat Punsalmaa, a former president of Mongolia and a mining engineer, and Byambasuren Dash, a former prime minister and economist who ruled Mongolia in the 1990s. Their insights about the rule of the country after the collapse of socialism made a significant contribu- tion as I worked to write about political independence, geopolitics and national economy. I would like to express my deepest gratitude and warm feelings of indebtedness to my bagsh (masters), colleagues and friends. Those are my bagsh Caroline Humphrey and bagsh David Sneath at the University of Cambridge, who mentored, inspired and supported my scholarly works throughout my academic career (including my time as a student). I am also grateful to Munkh-Erdene Lhamsuren at the National University of Mongolia (NUM), Uradyn Bulag at the University of Cambridge and Morten Pedersen at the University of Copenhagen for sharing thoughts and advice, which helped me to realise my oversights and improve my arguments. I am also deeply indebted and endlessly appreciative to my colleagues in the University College London (UCL)