%A CM Sheild Johansson
%V 39
%J Bulletin of Latin American Research
%D 2020
%N 3
%O This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
%T Resource Rumours in the Bolivian Andes: The Potential of Gold in Community Land
%L discovery10065723
%P 334-347
%K Andes, ayllu, land, mining, resources, rumours
%I Wiley-Blackwell
%X This article discusses the rumour of gold in an indigenous, Andean community. As the rumour circulated, it triggered speculation regarding potential claims to the gold, as well as concerns about how extraction should be managed in order to maintain a good relationship with the animate landscape. Specifically, the rumour tested the previous flexibility of community rules concerning land access, as well as assigning more responsibility to the rotated local leadership position. Rumours offer insights into the social and emotional contexts within which resource extraction takes place, while at the same time playing an important part in shaping these very same contexts.