Andean Women Visualising Development: Participatory Photography and Hopeful Perspectives on Beyond Mining in Peru

• In Event: Gender and resistance to mining in Peru and Guatemala

Abstract

This paper reflects on a participatory photography project conducted with 12 women anti-mining activists in the Cajamarca region of Peru. Over a three-month period, the women activists took photos capturing aspects of what Development means to them in the context of living with and contesting large scale mining projects. In this paper, I critically analyse a selection of the women activists’ photos and accompanying narratives, exploring the ways in which the women’s images represent their perspectives on ideas such as alternatives to extractivism, sustainable development, and post-extractive opportunities. I explore the ways in which the women activists used the photography project to articulate and make sense of their resistance to large-scale mining, and to showcase possibilities beyond extractivism. The analysis emphasises the importance the women placed on portraying positive alternatives to mining and moving beyond images of environmental degradation and violence, re-imagining their daily lives through a hopeful lens and an optimistic exploration of what might be possible.

Author

• Katy Jenkins, Northumbria University