Name: Dr. Richard Saunders
Affiliation: York University
Contact: rsaunder@yorku.ca
Richard Saunders is an Associate Professor in the Department of Politics, York University, Toronto, and the Principal Investigator of the Resource Nationalism in Southern Africa partnership project. A specialist on Zimbabwe, his current research investigates the dynamics, trajectory and outcomes of mining policy reform in East and Southern Africa in the context of a resurgent wave of ‘resource nationalism’ in leading mineral-rich countries in the region. A related regional research project in 2021-2023 will explore the impact, challenges and opportunities associated with recent Canadian mining regulation reforms for Canadian miners operating in Africa. Like earlier projects which explored the political economy of alluvial diamond mining in Zimbabwe and contestations over the country’s mining fiscal regime, a key focus of Saunders’ current research is the participation and impact of non-state domestic actors in the shaping of mining policy formulation and implementation. In this context, his work considers the degree of inclusion of local miners, business, finance, labour and mining communities in policy debates, actors’ respective capacities in engaging in policy processes, and the varying outcomes of these dynamics on diverse policy terrains.
Website: https://profiles.laps.yorku.ca/profiles/rsaunder/
Twitter: RnSADC
Publications (selected):
“Truncated Transitions: Elite Politics, Business Resilience and Continuities of Power in Zimbabwe’s Minerals Sector”, in Brown, Chris; Moore, David; and Blair Rutherford, eds., New Leaders. New Dawn? South Africa and Zimbabwe Under Cyril Ramaphosa and Emmerson Mnangagwa. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, forthcoming 2021.
“The Politics of Resource Bargaining, Social Relations and Institutional Development in Zimbabwe Since Independence”, in Katja Hujo, ed., The Politics of Domestic Resource Mobilization for Social Development, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan and UNRISD, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37595-9_12
(with Alex Caramento) “Capitalism and Resource Nationalism in Southern Africa.” Review of African Political Economy “Capitalism in Africa” Blog, 17 October 2019. https://roape.net/2019/10/17/capitalism-and-resource-nationalism-in-southern-africa/
“The Politics of Resource Bargaining, Social Relations and Institutional Development
in Zimbabwe Since Independence”, UNRISD Working Paper 2019-1, United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, Geneva, 2019. https://www.unrisd.org/unrisd/website/document.nsf/(httpPapersForProgrammeArea)/6CB556806EF2E5A0C1258390005413D8?OpenDocument
(with Alex Caramento) “An ‘Extractive Developmental State’ in Southern Africa? The Cases of Zambia and Zimbabwe.” Third World Quarterly vol. 39, no. 6 (2018): 1166-1190. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2017.1409072
“High Value Minerals and Resource Bargaining in a Time of Crisis: A Case Study on the Diamond Fields of Marange, Zimbabwe”, UNRISD Working Paper No. 1-2018, United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, Geneva, 2018.
“Contestation and Resource Bargaining in Zimbabwe: The Minerals Sector”, UNRISD Working Paper No. 13-2017, United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, Geneva, 2017.
(with T. Nyamunda), eds. Facets of Power: Politics, Profits and People in the Making of Zimbabwe’s Blood Diamonds. Johannesburg and Harare: Wits University Press and Weaver Press, 2016. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvgc60md
“Introduction: The Many Facets of Marange’s Diamonds” (Ch1), “Geologies of Power: Conflict Diamonds, Security Politics and Zimbabwe’s Troubled Transition” (Ch2), “Holding Ground: Community, Companies and Resistance in Chiadzwa” (with Melanie Chiponda) (Ch9), and “Epilogue: Back to the Beginning…”, in Saunders and Nyamunda, eds., Facets of Power: Politics, Profits and People in the Making of Zimbabwe’s Blood Diamonds. Johannesburg and Harare: Wits University Press and Weaver Press, 2016. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvgc60md
“Geologies of Power: Blood Diamonds, Security Politics and Zimbabwe’s Troubled Transition.” Journal of Contemporary African Studies vol.32, no.3 (2014): 378-394. https://doi.org/10.1080/02589001.2014.956501
“Zimbabwe: Liberation Nationalism – old and born-again.” Review of African Political Economy vol. 38, no.1 (2011): 117-128. https://doi.org/10.1080/03056244.2011.552695
“Briefing Note: Conflict Diamonds from Zimbabwe.” Amsterdam: Niza/Fatal Transactions, 2009. http://archive.kubatana.net/docs/econ/saunders_conflict_diamonds_zimbabwe_0909.pdf
“Crisis, Capital, Compromise: Mining and Empowerment in Zimbabwe.” African Sociological Review vol.12, no.1 (2008): 67-89. https://doi.org/10.4314/asr.v12i1.43530