Engaging Legal Systems in Small-Scale Gold Mining Conflicts in Three South American Countries - Conflicts Over Natural Resources in the Global South - page 129

Engaging Legal Systems in Small-Scale
Gold Mining Conflicts inThree South
American Countries
Marjo de Theije 1 , Judith Kolen 2 ,Marieke Heemskerk 3 ,
Celine Duijves 4 ,Mariana Sarmiento 5 ,Alexandra Urán 6 ,
Ingrid Lozada 7 , Helcías Ayala 8 , Jorge Perea 9 &
Armin Mathis 10 , 11
Abstract This chapter addresses the relationship between engaging legal systems
and the incidence of conflicts in small-scale gold mining. We concentrate on the con-
flicts that are the result of claims made by different stakeholders in their attempt to
gain access to gold-rich soils and rivers and the revenues thereof. Each of the countries
studies here - Suriname, Colombia and Brazil - have a complex set of laws, rules and
regulations with regard to territory and natural resources. However, in many small-
scale gold mining regions, the role of the state in implementing mining legislation and
exercising authority has been marginal. Incompatibilities in the legal system and the
lack of state laws form an important obstacle to the effective formulation and imple-
mentation of public policies for small-scale mining activities, and cause conflict in
the respective local settings. By comparing the three cases, we make an inventory of
the different legal systems, how these are interrelated and how people make strategic
choices between them. This is what we call “engaging legal systems'': the laws and
regulations that interact in a situation of legal pluralism, and the users of the laws
and regulations who relate to the different legal systems. We argue that the lack of
state authority can be an important reason for the engagement of different legal sys-
tems. However, engaging legal systems are a common phenomenon in small-scale gold