Slow violence, extraction and human rights defence in Tanzania: Notes from the field

This article explores the different manifestations of violence in the gold-producing region of Tanzania, drawing on findings from empirical research. In doing so, it illustrates how the gold mining sector in Tanzania, despite being associated with contestation and ongoing violence, has continued to produce at a high level. The article calls for a broadening of the definition of “violence” within resource-rich regions in order to account for significant environmental and non-physical forms of violence that occur over broad temporal scales, or what is referred to as “slow violence”. This would allow for a closer examination of the range of effects on communities and the environment at sites of extraction, including the impacts on human rights defenders, the focus of this analysis. The aim is to extend understanding of violence beyond extreme acts and rather to account for a more extensive range of manifestations across resource-rich regions of Tanzania.