Coltan mining and conflict in the eastern democratic republic of congo Drc

This chapter provides a case study on coltan mining and conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as a human security case study. The case study highlights not only the degree of human insecurity in the DRC, but also issues relevant to an increasingly popular political economy of conflict discourse, and the debates over the nexus between conflict, security and development. In so doing, the case study also illustrates how human insecurity in coltan mines in the eastern DRC interconnects with consumers worldwide through globalised trade chains. Human insecurity in the eastern DRC is manifested by the engagement of the local population in dangerous artisanal mining, the ‘industry of last resort’. The chapter analyses the efficacy of the international response to the issue of coltan mining, which largely focuses on boycotting ‘blood coltan’ through due diligence, in an effort to break the link between coltan mining and violence in the eastern DRC.