Exploitation minière artisanale et paupérisation des ruraux au Cameroun : socioanalyse de la précarité des orpailleurs à Batouri (Est)

Abstract

The municipal town of Batouri is characterized by its abundance of artisanal and semi-mechanized mining sites. This dissertation, entitled “artisanal mining and impoverishment of rural people in Cameroon: socioanalysis of the precariousness of gold miners in Batouri (EST)” is the result of work that was carried out in the department of Kadey de more precise way. The work devoted to mining has suggested that it is a source of enrichment for those who have it, a way out of poverty. Conversely, in the locality of Batouri, the observation made during our field visits is that, this activity, as profitable as it is, does not contribute to the well-being of these miners, on the contrary, it impoverishes them further. The objective of our research is to analyze the effects of social representations on the daily lives of gold miners in Batouri. We formulated the hypothesis according to which the precariousness of the gold miners in this community is constructed from the socio-cultural conditions in which they operate. For this analytical work, we used the individual analysis of Raymond BOUDON, the ethnomethodology of Harold GARFINKEL and the theory of social representations of Serge MOSCOVICI. These theories have shed some light on the question of the precariousness of gold miners in this area. The use of observation, whether documentary or direct, and interviews as data collection techniques made it possible to reach the conclusion that the gold miner himself is at the origin of his illness. Being because, he is now conditioned by the society in which he lives and its realities that he himself created which act against his person. In other words, the precariousness in which the gold miner in the communal town of Batouri remains is the result of his own actions.