Inter-Institutional Gaps and Diversity within Guyana’s Gold Mining Sector: Multi-level Governance and Corrupt Natural Resource Management

Abstract

Natural resource extraction has served as the backbone of the Guyanese economy for decades. The country’s reliance on gold and timber extraction has led to complex governance arrangements which are both influenced by various socio-political and economic factors. This analysis of natural resource governance reveals informal political arrangements between institutional actors, showcasing the hybridity and fluidity involved in such human-environment interactions. This thesis will analyze the inter-institutional gaps found in Guyana's gold mining sector in order to understand what conditions lead to these gaps and what the socio-ecological consequences of these gaps are. This exploratory study seeks to conduct an institutional analysis of Guyana’s gold mining sector by looking at the distinctions between formal and informal institutional bodies and viewing how corrupt practices influences this extractive industry and society at large. This study shows that even though corruption and mismanagement are integral parts of Guyana’s gold mining sector, the negative consequences of such arrangements have mostly led to latent conflicts and slow-paced environmental destruction, providing Guyana with a relative amount of stability when it comes to national and international conflicts.