Mining and community. A sociological study on the social impact of large-scale mining
Author: Perez-Sindin Lopez, Xaquin S., xaquin.perezsindin@udc.es
Department: Department of Sociology
University: University of A Coruña, Spain
Supervisor: Gerardo Hernández Rodríguez y Federico Martín Palmero
Year of completion: In progress
Language of dissertation: Spanish
Keywords:
Megaproject
, boomtown
, Social Impact Assessment
, urban transformation
Areas of Research:
Community Research
, Environment and Society
, Regional and Urban Development
Abstract
I explore the social and Urban transformation patterns in a town affected by open pit mine in the eighties, while also looking at the more theoretical questions about social impact of both large scale projects and rapid urban growth processes in a context of global capitalism. After having build a theoretical framework on the concept of community within sociology discipline, as well as the relationship between mining and society, I conducted a mixed method-based fieldwork. Specifically, I conducted a self-administered postal questionnaire-based survey amongst arepresentative sample of ex-mining workers; twenty one in-depth interviews and two focus group amongst the main local social agents. I also undertook socio-spatial analysis by mean GIS methods and software.
All this information has also been triangulated with qualitative data from observational and ethnographic approach inquiries and online newspaper content analysis. My PhD has four broad strands of research: social disruption (from a more classical sociological perspective), variations in terms of social capital theories and social network; internal migrations (both pre and post development) and urban segregation and inequality. The extrapolation of many of the conclusions has allowed me to develop innovative and consistent sociological theories in order to understand the links between community and rapid development.
