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Mining and Society

Since the implementation of the Mining Act of 1995, the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) has engaged in efforts to enhance the development of the Philippine economy by encouraging the extraction of nonferrous metals (metals such as copper, gold, lead, nickel, silver, and zinc) by foreign (including Canadian) corporations. Nonferrous metals' mining is an activity with a unique, and substantial, potential for environmental degradation. Dr. Holden's research, in collaboration with Dr. Jacobson, has examined how concerns about mining's potential environmental effects have lead to the mobilization of that archipelago's vibrant civil society against the government's mining based development paradigm. This has included: protests, litigation, administrative proceedings, and the implementation of mining moratoriums by local government units. This research contributes to the field of "environment and development" and examines various alternative types of "bottom up" development paradigms (such as the Roman Catholic Church's Basic Ecclesial Communities) that serve as an alternative to the "top down" neoliberal development program pursued by the GRP.

PUBLICATIONS

Holden, W.N. (2006). "One Concept and Two Countries: Federal Government Jurisdiction to Make Environmental Law in Australia and Canada." Australian Canadian Studies. Forthcoming.

Ingelson, A., A. Urzua, and W.N. Holden (2006) "Mine Operator Liability for the Spill of an Independent Contractor in Peru." Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law. Vol.24, No. 1, pp. 53-65.

Holden W.N. and Jacobson R.D. (2006) Mining amid decentralization. Local governments and mining in the Philippines. Natural Resources Forum 30, 188-198.

Holden, W.N. (2005). "Civil Society Opposition to Nonferrous Metals Mining in the Philippines." Voluntas. Vol.16, No.3, pp.223-249.

Holden W.N. (2005) Indigenous peoples and nonferrous metals mining in the Philippines. The Pacific Review, 18(3), 417-438.

PRESS

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