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AFTER THE RUSH: LIVING WITH UNCERTAINTY IN A MALAGASY MINING TOWN

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2012

Andrew Walsh
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Abstract

This article addresses the uncertainties of life in the once booming, but now declining, centre of northern Madagascar's sapphire trade. Although the characteristic features of small-scale mining boomtowns have become well known to many through research on gold, diamond and other rushes throughout Africa and elsewhere in the world, relatively little is known of what happens to such distinctive communities after they boom. What becomes of the unique social networks, consumption patterns, and world-views so often associated with these places when the supply of or demand for the particular commodities around which they have developed declines? Who leaves and who stays behind? How do those remaining in such places continue to earn livings and make meaningful lives despite the decline that surrounds them, and how do they make sense of their circumstances in light of memories of better times? This article addresses these and other questions as they relate to life after the rush in the northern Malagasy sapphire-mining and trading town of Ambondromifehy, arguing that the uncertainties faced by those who remain indicate new possibilities as much as continuing decline.

Résumé

Cet article traite des incertitudes de l'existence de ceux qui vivent du commerce du saphir, autrefois florissant mais aujourd'hui en déclin, dans le Nord de Madagascar. On connaît bien aujourd'hui les caractéristiques des petites villes minières, grâce aux recherches menées sur les ruées vers l'or, le diamant et autres en Afrique et ailleurs; en revanche, nous avons relativement peu de données sur ce qu'il advient de ces communautés particulières après leur période d'essor. Qu'advient-il de leurs réseaux sociaux uniques, de leurs schémas de consommation et de l'image si souvent associée à ces lieux, lorsque baisse l'offre ou la demande des matières premières qui étaient à l'origine de leur essor? Quels sont ceux qui partent et ceux qui restent? Comment ceux qui restent arrivent-ils à gagner leur vie et à mener une existence décente et productive malgré le déclin environnant, et quel sens donnent-ils à leur situation à la lumière des souvenirs de temps meilleurs? Cet article traite de ces questions, et d'autres encore, concernant la vie après la ruée à Ambondromifehy, ville marchande et minière d'exploitation du saphir du Nord de la Malagasy, en affirmant que les incertitudes de ceux qui restent sont autant indicatrices de nouvelles possibilités que de déclin persistant.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 82 , Issue 2 , May 2012 , pp. 235 - 251
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2012

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