The Sociology and Anthropology Research Series at Illinois State University will present a talk from Michael L. Dougherty titled “Terra Infirm: Land Tenure Vulnerability and Mining Conflicts in Guatemala and El Salvador” at 11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m. on Friday, March 1, in Schroeder Hall 212.

Dougherty, an Illinois State associate professor of sociology, will explore how mining operations have moved to new economies over the last 20 years to parts of Latin America and the ensuing conflict due to these operations. Drawing from a comparative study of three communities in Guatemala and El Salvador, he will argue that areas with evenly distributed smallholder tenure patterns exhibit greater opposition to mining while communities with more variegated tenure arrangements exhibit greater ambiguity.

The Sociology and Anthropology Research Series is free and open to the public.