Women and Mining
Women and Mining research examines how extractive economies reshape gender relations, labour structures and community life across South Asia. Women in mining regions participate in diverse roles — from informal mineral work to agricultural labour in mining-affected landscapes — yet their contributions remain under-recognised in policy and governance debates. By situating women in extractive industries within broader discussions of environmental change, resource governance and social justice, this work foregrounds lived experience as central to understanding mining transformations.
Gender and Mining
Women in mining economies experience deeply gendered divisions of labour. While mining is often portrayed as male-dominated, gender and mining research shows that women engage in processing, sorting, transporting and trading minerals, alongside unpaid care work within mining households. Gendered labour in mining frequently remains informal, underpaid and excluded from formal recognition. This research explores how women negotiate risk, authority and survival within extractive spaces shaped by both state policy and corporate expansion.
Women in Extractive Industries
Women in extractive industries are affected not only as workers but also as farmers, traders and community members in regions undergoing industrial expansion. Large-scale mining projects alter land ownership, disrupt agricultural cycles and reshape local economies. These shifts affect women’s access to land, water and livelihood security. By examining women in extractive industries beyond narrow labour categories, the research connects mining expansion to broader processes of rural transformation and governance.
Mining and Livelihoods
Mining and livelihoods are closely interconnected in regions where extractive economies coexist with farming and informal work. Women often move between agricultural labour and mining-related activities depending on seasonal opportunity and household need. However, mining expansion can intensify vulnerability through displacement, environmental degradation and unstable employment. This research situates mining and livelihoods within wider debates on climate stress, environmental governance and economic restructuring.
Gendered Labour in Mining
Gendered labour in mining reflects broader inequalities embedded within mineral governance systems. In artisanal and small-scale mining contexts, women’s work is frequently classified as auxiliary or informal, limiting access to legal recognition and institutional support. By analysing gendered labour in mining through case studies and policy review, this research contributes to debates on regulatory reform and equitable extractive governance.
Taken together, Women and Mining research contributes to interdisciplinary scholarship on gender, extractive industries and development. It highlights the need to recognise women’s economic roles, political agency and environmental vulnerability within mining regions, while advancing more inclusive approaches to resource governance.