Over the past two decades, neoliberal reforms, soaring commodity prices and
heightened global resource demands have led to significant growth in extractive
industry investment across sub-Saharan Africa. A surge of investment has triggered
a variety of responses in mineral-rich communities – from outright rejection, to
protest over labour conditions, to acceptance in anticipation of gainful employment.
Drawing on recent research carried out in Kono District in Sierra Leone, this article
critically explores these contrasting responses to mining activities, by focusing on
how youth perceive and respond to extractive industry expansion. In doing so, the
paper broadens understanding of why youth perceptions of mining investment
differ, and illuminates the various factors underlying a diverse range of responses to
the expansion of extractive industries. The focus on youth and its heterogeneity as a
social category has important policy implications and the paper makes a
contribution to understanding the dynamics and diversity of youth livelihood
strategies in resource rich developing countries. In making a distinction between
autonomous spaces of community-led development ‘from below’ and corporate
controlled spaces of development ‘from above’, the article reflects on how youth
perceptions of extractive industry expansion may also be influencing the ways in
which mining companies understand and fashion their business and social
responsibility strategies.