Access to natural resources as a means of development in Burkina FasoMarn, Eva (Avtor) Bučar, Maja (Mentor) Lightfoot, Simon (Komentor) sustainable miningBourdieu’s fielddevelopmentnatural resourcesgoldBurkina FasoThe thesis addresses the problem of unequal access to natural resources, and the implications for sustainable development. It specifically analyses the case of gold mining in Burkina Faso aiming to understand how and to what extent the benefit obtained from the extraction of gold is used for the benefit of the population. The thesis presents a theoretical overview of the questions of access, ownership and in particular the question of sustainability of the use of natural resources/sustainability of mining. To think about the exploitation of resources, Bourdieu’s concept of the “field” is borrowed by which one observes the reality of natural resources’ economy and identifies the actors/stakeholders in their “field” of action. The aim is to find out whether the mined resources/assets are proportionately translated into some other wealth that covers, equally for all, the needs of the present generations without endangering the needs of the future generations. In studying the case of gold mining in Burkina Faso, a historical overview is presented as well as the institutional, legislative and policy framework to understand the external and internal circumstances that led the country to decide for the extraction, and the financial gains of the country. To complement the official data with the public perception and “on the ground” experience, 35 semi-structured interviews have been conducted with representatives of all the stakeholders. This allowed to follow the trajectories of personal and collective histories of concrete local people and mining communities and also, to get personal opinions of various public officials, representatives of mines and of different civil society organizations. In conclusion, my data from the ground matches with my theoretical findings in that a large part of non-renewable natural resources’ benefit finds ways other than to impact development. Despite some improved development indicators in the country, mining does not bring the proportional improvement of people's lives within the meaning of sustainable development.E. Marn20242024-05-22 08:30:01Doktorsko delo/naloga156363UDK: 502.131.1:622 (662.5)(043.3)VisID: 161354COBISS_ID: 197507331sl