“It can lift someone from poverty”: Imagined futures in the Sierra Leonean diamond market

This article aims to draw attention to the role of the future in artisanal mining. It argues that in order to understand the dynamics of artisanal mining, research must understand miners' imaginaries of a better future which inform their economic strategies in the present. Drawing on Jens Beckert's (2016) concepts of fictional expectations and imagined futures, the article investigates projections of the future and strategies of future-making in the Sierra Leonean diamond market. If these expectations remain poorly understood, development policies will not be able to address the needs of mining communities.