In the 1970s, Mineração Rio do Norte (MRN) annexed much of Boa Vista’s land in Oriximiná, Pará state. The company established the world’s fourth largest bauxite mine, along with a company town, Porto Trombetas, built on the former quilombo property. MRN also polluted local fisheries and provided mostly badly paid menial jobs to residents.
Margaret Levi, Editor of the Annual Review of Political Science, talks with Elinor Ostrom. In this prefatory interview, Dr. Ostrom talks about her personal journey in academia, not only as a woman, but also as a non-traditional student who worked outside of academia before pursuing graduate work. She discusses her belief in collaboration and multi-disciplinary research, as well as her research in common-pool resources and governance.