Research team
Expertise
I hold a PhD in International Relations from the University of Groningen (Netherlands) and in International Affairs from Carleton University (Canada), with a background of experience, research, and study in International Relations, international development, and political science. Currently I am researching from a critical perspective on knowledge production and information politics in, and beyond, mineral supply chains linked to the "green energy" boom, particularly cobalt mined in southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo. This includes the role of power relations, particularly as it pertains to the collection and use of (digital) data by mining corporations and commodity traders. My research interests also include conflict, governance, and socio-economic justice in central and eastern Africa, particularly in the large-scale mining (LSM) and artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sectors. I did my PhD research on resource governance, LSM-ASM conflict, and the distributional consequences of LSM in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). I have also done research on women’s empowerment and economic opportunities in ASM in Kenya. I assist the Canadian Association of African Studies (CAAS) with organisational development and advocacy. I spent two years as the Impact Assessment Analyst with Interactive Radio for Justice, monitoring and evaluating the project’s impact in the DRC and the Central African Republic (CAR). I also have over a year of project management, organisational development, and consulting experience in conflict-affected regions of DRC and CAR.
INFOMINE: Access to information and research communication in Congolese mines.
Abstract
The proposed Small Research Grant (SRG) is complementary to an ongoing FWO project, Driving Change, on the participation of small-scale producers in ethical supply chain initiatives for Congolese cobalt and 3T (tin, tungsten, tantalum). The context is the growing demand for mineral resources (especially cobalt) for the green energy transition, which comes with questions around the labour, human rights and environmental impact of extraction in the Global South. To address these questions, numerous initiatives have been set up to increase transparency in mineral supply chains, to ensure due diligence and to promote responsible sourcing. As such, access to information is considered to be important, but it is seen from a downstream perspective: how to mitigate risks in mineral supply chains so as to protect lead companies' reputation? How to reassure consumers that the products they buy do not contain minerals associated with human rights abuses and child labour? This SRG has two objectives. First, I will assess how different categories of "miners" (meaning all producers and workers involved in extraction and initial processing up to the point of sales) access information about the supply chain they are part of. This includes information about actors in the chain, but also financial flows, mineral prices, mineral quality, technologies, geology, value, and governance. Second, I aim to contribute to and facilitate the dissemination of information, in an accessible format and with relevant content that responds to miners' needs. The proposed SRG will focus on three questions: 1) How do miners access information about the supply chains they are part of? 2) What are the (material, discursive, technical…) barriers to access? 3) How can researchers contribute to and facilitate the dissemination of information that responds to miners' needs? Empirically the SRG focuses on two mineral-producing regions: Lualaba province in southern DRC (cobalt-producing region) and South Kivu province in eastern DRC (3T-producing region). In both regions, a range of ethical supply chain initiatives have been implemented. However, initial research from the FWO project has indicated that the interviewees have a very low level of knowledge about these initiatives; and that participation is limited to selected cooperative leaders and "legitimate" artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) "pilot projects". This SRG will allow us to send the research teams back to the sites that were visited in 2023 to carry out two main activities: ● A workshop in which the team presents the preliminary findings of the Driving Change project and presents the booklet that has been designed for outreach. We will invite miners and discuss the opportunities and barriers for accessing information with them. ● Focus group discussions on the questions 1) How do miners access information about the supply chains they are part of? 2) What are the (material, discursive, technical…) barriers to access? 3) How can researchers contribute to and facilitate the dissemination of information that responds to miners' needs?Researcher(s)
- Promoter: Katz-Lavigne Sarah
Research team(s)
Project type(s)
- Research Project
Questioning legitimacy in the responsible cobalt assemblage.
Abstract
The energy transition makes the world greedy for cobalt, a mineral that is primarily extracted in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In response to growing environmental, human rights and labour concerns surrounding this extraction and trade, a multitude of so-called responsible cobalt sourcing initiatives has emerged. This project critically questions the discourses and practices of these responsible sourcing initiatives, conceptualizing them as a 'responsible cobalt assemblage'. The project (1) maps this emerging assemblage, making an empirical contribution to the literature on supply chain governance; (2) conceptualizes responsible cobalt initiatives as an assemblage, making a theoretical contribution to assemblage theory; (3) analyzes legitimizing discourses and practices employed by different assemblage actors, as well as their effects on the ground. It will do so by combining a range of qualitative research methods, primarily discourse analysis, interviews and focus group discussions, and will explicitly create space for non-hegemonic forms of knowledge production. This will also be done through embedding the project within an institutional collaboration with a Congolese partner university. The project complements the FWO Driving Change project (2022-2025) theoretically, analytically and methodologically by engaging with assemblage theory, focusing on legitimacy and including national-level actors, and using discourse analyses.Researcher(s)
- Promoter: Geenen Sara
- Co-promoter: Katz-Lavigne Sarah
- Fellow: Arian Hadassah
Research team(s)
Project type(s)
- Research Project
Promoting sustainable sand mining in developing countries, taking into account transparency, governance and due diligence
Abstract
Volgens de taakomschrijving is de centrale doelstelling van het onderzoek het versterken van normen en beste praktijken om onverantwoorde en illegale winningsactiviteiten tegen te gaan door middel van richtsnoeren en instrumenten voor het sturen, bewaken en beheren van zandwinning, en door het uitwisselen van informatie en het tot stand brengen van een dialoog tussen de belangrijkste spelers en belanghebbenden. Dit zal worden gedaan door middel van: (i) een algemeen in kaart brengen van relevante informatie (academisch en beleidsmatig) over (duurzame) zandgrondstofketens, en van internationale en Belgische initiatieven met betrekking tot de sector, inclusief snelgroeiende "due diligence"-benaderingen met betrekking tot mensenrechten. (ii) case studies in Marokko en Tanzania, om de (zandgovernance) realiteit op het terrein beter te begrijpen, en om de toegevoegde waarde van Belgische diplomatie en ontwikkelingssamenwerking te onderzoeken. (iii) aanknopingspunten aanreiken om het onderwerp op het niveau van internationaal engagement te brengen, waarbij specifiek gefocust wordt op de effectieve verspreiding van resultaten, alsook op de rol van Belgische initiatieven in het werken aan duurzame, gender-gevoelige zandwaardeketens. Wat weten we over het beheer van zandgrondstofketens? Hoe kunnen evoluerende normen en beste praktijken inzake global resource governance, in het bijzonder gericht op transparantie en due diligence, helpen om niet-duurzame en illegale zandontginning in te perken, en wat zijn mogelijke onbedoelde gevolgen voor specifieke (kwetsbare) bevolkingsgroepen die hiermee te maken krijgen? Hoe kunnen we deze lessen toepassen op specifieke gevallen zoals Tanzania of Marokko?Researcher(s)
- Promoter: Katz-Lavigne Sarah
Research team(s)
Project type(s)
- Research Project