Previous Events
Successful inaugural Majestique Summit of the Extractivism & Society Research Cluster!
On Wednesday, April 3, 2024, we convened and met for the inaugural session of the Majestique Summit, which we hope will become a regular event of academic exchange, camaraderie, and mutual support.
A total of 16 friends and collaborators of the Extractivism & Society Research Cluster participated in an intense and fruitful conversation. The call for the meeting outlined its goal as an intellectual exchange about the relationships between extractivism, capitalism, nature, and popular resistance. We identified some research trends, new topics, dilemmas, challenges, and avenues for collaboration.
Through this collaboration, we aim to think collectively about the most pressing issues of contemporary times between scholars activists and scholars activists to build the bridges and alliances required for tackling the current terrains of exploitation and contestation.
Since 2019, the Extractivism & Society Research Cluster has been organizing events, gathering friends and colleagues, academics and activists, to reflect on extractivism across the Americas collectively. We want to strengthen and build upon this networking through an exercise that will actively involve and benefit all the participants. We aim to organize events and encounters that, in addition to sharing knowledge, also purposely strengthen friendships and camaraderie.
We extend our gratitude to all the participants for their exciting contribution and their enthusiasm. We hope to keep expanding our community and doing significant work in solidarity!
Extractivism & Society Event: Conversation with Luis Tapia
April 10, 2023 | 12:00pm-2:00pm (PT)
(EN) The Research Cluster on Extractivism & Society is gathering students, scholars, and social activists together for a conversation with Professor Luis Tapia in an event fully in Spanish at UC Santa Cruz. Luis Tapia is Professor and Coordinator of the M.A. in Critical Theory at the Universidad Mayor de San Marcos in Bolivia and will be visiting UCSC invited by the History of Consciousness Department. Along with Alvaro García Linera, Raquel Gutiérrez Aguilar, and Raul Prada, Luis Tapia was part of Grupo Comuna, an influential intellectual collective producing major breakthroughs at the start of the 2000s in social theory and analyses of Bolivian and Latin American reality.
Professor Luis Tapia has examined key topics for the present and future evolution of the region:
- State theory and state autonomy in Latin America
- The legacy of René Zavaleta Mercado and the concept of “abigarramiento”/”Sociedad abigarrada” (motley society)
- Colonial domination and internal colonialism
- Plurinationality and socio-political processes in Boliva
- Bolivia’s first MAS government, indigenous communities, and the reproduction of colonialism
This will be a unique opportunity to engage with one of the region’s most influential intellectuals fully in Spanish. We suggest attendees read Chapter 3 of his book Dialéctica del Colonialismo Interno (Traficante de Sueños, 2022), which is available at Traficantes. Please join us on Monday April 10th, 2023 at the Charles Merrill Lounge at UCSC or register to join the conversation on Zoom.
This event is held with support from the Latin American & Latino Studies Department, the Institute for Social Transformation, and the Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas. Please see the event flier for more information.
Evento del Grupo de Investigación sobre Extractivismo y Sociedad: Conversación con Luis Tapia
(SP) El Grupo de Investigación en Extractivismo y Sociedad busca reunir a estudiantes, académicos y activistas sociales para conversar con el profesor Luis Tapia en un evento en español en la UCSC.
Luis Tapia es Profesor y Coordinador de la Maestría en Teoría Crítica de la Universidad Mayor de San Marcos en Bolivia y visitará la UCSC invitado por el Departamento de Historia de la Conciencia. Junto con Álvaro García Linera, Raquel Gutiérrez Aguilar y Raúl Prada, Luis Tapia formó parte del Grupo Comuna, un influyente colectivo intelectual que produjo importantes avances a principios de la década de 2000 en teoría social y análisis de la realidad boliviana y latinoamericana.
El profesor Luis Tapia ha examinado temas clave para la evolución presente y futura de la región:
- Teoría del Estado y autonomía estatal en América Latina
- El legado de René Zavaleta Mercado y el concepto de “abigarramiento”/”Sociedad abigarrada
- Dominación colonial y colonialismo interno
- Plurinacionalidad y procesos sociopolíticos en Bolivia
- El primer gobierno del MAS en Bolivia, las comunidades indígenas y la reproducción del colonialismo
Esta será una oportunidad única para dialogar con uno de los intelectuales más influyentes de la región y hacerlo en español. Sugerimos a los asistentes que lean el capítulo 3 de su libro, Dialéctica del Colonialismo Interno (Traficante de Sueños, 2022), disponible en Traficantes. Únase a nosotros el lunes 10 de abril de 2023 en Charles Merrill Lounge en UCSC o regístrese para unirse a la conversación en Zoom.
Este evento cuenta con el apoyo del Departamento de Estudios Latinoamericanos y Latinos, el Instituto para la Transformación Social y el Centro de Investigación de las Américas Dolores Huerta. Consulte el folleto del evento para obtener más información.
Extractivism & Society Research Cluster in the LASA Congress 2022
Latin American Studies Association
Virtual Congress May 5-8 2022
“Polarización socioambiental y rivalidad entre grandes potencias”
LASA Roundtable – Transitions to a post-carbon world: The controversies of Lithium, alternatives and post-extractivism
Date/Time: May 5, 2022 / 8:00am-9:30am (PST)
Session Organizers: James Alejandro Artiga Purcell & Tamara Ortega-Uribe
Abstract:
In the face of the climate crisis, “just transition” narratives provide powerful critiques of hegemonic fossil-fuel based extractive development. Unfortunately, the narrow emphasis on creating zero-carbon futures has largely ignored the ongoing and deepening reliance of such futures on notoriously degrading extractive industries. For example, spurred by discourses of “green energy”, increased lithium production threatens to broaden the frontiers of extractive conflict, propel ongoing neo-colonial/extractive imperialism, and reinforce geopolitical power imbalances. For any sustainable energy transition to be just, it must create spaces for resisting socio-ecologically degrading extractivism. In an effort to build alternatives to extractivism that go beyond mere critique, this workshop will address the following topics:
- What are the possibilities, challenges, and contradictions of lithium mining to create socio-ecologically sustainable and just development?
- (How) Can lithium-based technologies promote climate justice? For whom? And at what temporal-spatial scales?
- What would a feminist, decolonial, antiracist, anti-capitalist alternative to lithium extractivism look like?
Panelist Participants:
- Dr. Sally Babidge (University of Queensland)
- Hernan Bianchi (University of Toronto)
- Dr. Cristobal Bonelli (University of Amsterdam)
- Nate Edenhofer (University of California, Santa Cruz)
- Dr. Pablo Heidrich (Carleton University)
- Daniela Solo Hernandez (University of Sussex)
LASA Panel – Critical Cultural Political Economy of Extractivism in Latin America
Date/Time: May 8, 2022 / 8:00am-9:30am (PST)
Abstract:
Extractivism, and struggles to find and implement alternatives to extractivism, are on the rise in Latin America. This panel brings together members of the Extractivism and Society Research Cluster, who work to analyze contemporary extractivism and its alternatives in the Americas through the lens of “Critical Cultural Political Economy (CCPE).” CCPE approaches attend to the entangled semiotic and the material power relations that shape environmental crises. The panelists will discuss how epistemic communities struggle to forge the ideology that supports the expansion of extractive frontiers in different political projects, from neoliberal to progressive, and examine how communities and activists help slow or halt extractive projects in adverse contexts. Panelists will discuss how semiotic practices actively shape and are shaped by ecological and political economic dynamics, and explore the management of capitalism’s contradictions in the extractive sector, as well as the contradictions of anti-extractive struggles.
Presenters:
- Nate Edenhofer (Politics Department, UCSC)
- Tamara Ortega Uribe (Politics Department, UCSC)
- Alejandra Watanabe-Farro (Latin American & Latino Studies Department, UCSC)
- Dr. Thomas Chiasson-LeBel (Université de l’Ontario Francais (UOF))
- Dr. Alejandro Artiga-Purcell (Earth Research Institute, UCSB)
Discussant: Guillermina Seri (Professor of Political Science, Union College)
Chair: Dr. Fernando Leiva (UCSC)
Research Cluster Extractivismo y Sociedad en el Congreso LASA 2022
Asociación de Estudios Latinoamericanos
Congreso Virtual 5-8 Mayo 2022
“Polarización socioambiental y rivalidad entre grandes potencias”
Mesa Redonda LASA – Transiciones a un mundo post-carbono: Las controversias del Litio, alternativas y post-extractivismo
Fecha/Hora: 5 de mayo de 2022 / 8:00 am-9:30 am (Hora California)
Resumen:
Frente a la crisis climática, las narrativas de “transición justa” brindan poderosas críticas al desarrollo extractivo hegemónico basado en combustibles fósiles. Desafortunadamente, el estrecho énfasis en la creación de futuros sin carbono ha ignorado en gran medida la continua y cada vez más profunda dependencia de tales futuros en industrias extractivas notoriamente degradantes. Por ejemplo, basado en los discursos de “energía verde”, el aumento de la producción de litio amenaza con ampliar las fronteras del conflicto extractivo, impulsar el imperialismo neocolonial/extractivo en curso y reforzar los desequilibrios de poder geopolítico. Para que cualquier transición energética sostenible sea justa, se deben crear espacios para resistir el extractivismo socio ecológicamente degradante. En un esfuerzo por construir alternativas al extractivismo que vayan más allá de la mera crítica, esta Mesa Redonda abordará los siguientes temas:
- ¿Cuáles son las posibilidades, desafíos y contradicciones de la minería del litio para generar un desarrollo justo y socioecológicamente sostenible?
- ¿Cómo pueden las tecnologías basadas en litio promover la justicia climática? ¿Para quién? ¿Y a qué escalas espacio-temporales?
- ¿Cómo sería una alternativa feminista, decolonial, antirracista, anticapitalista al extractivismo del litio?
Panelistas:
- Dra. Sally Babidge (Universidad de Queensland)
- Hernán Bianchi (Universidad de Toronto)
- Dr. Cristóbal Bonelli (Universidad de Amsterdam)
- Nate Edenhofer (Universidad de California, Santa Cruz)
- Dr. Pablo Heidrich (Universidad de Carleton)
- Daniela Solo Hernández (Universidad de Sussex)
Panel LASA – Economía política cultural crítica del extractivismo en América Latina
Fecha/Hora: 8 de mayo de 2022 / 8:00 am-9:30 am (Hora California)
El extractivismo y las luchas para encontrar e implementar alternativas al extractivismo están en aumento en América Latina. Este panel reúne a miembros del Research Cluster Extractivismo y Sociedad, para analizar el extractivismo contemporáneo y sus alternativas en las Américas a través del enfoque de “Economía Política Cultural Crítica (CCPE)”. El enfoque de CCPE entiende que las relaciones de poder que dan forma a las crisis ambientales se sustentan en una relación intrínseca y recíproca entre lo material y lo cultural. Los panelistas discutirán sobre cómo ciertas comunidades epistémicas han contribuido a forjar ideologías que sustentan la expansión de las fronteras extractivas en diferentes proyectos políticos, desde neoliberales hasta progresistas, y examinarán cómo las comunidades y los activistas ayudan a frenar o detener los proyectos extractivos en contextos adversos. Los panelistas discutirán sobre cómo las prácticas semióticas construyen, y a su vez son construidas por, dinámicas económicas, políticas y ecológicas. Finalmente, explorarán cómo el sector extractivo gestiona sus propias contradicciones, además de explorar cuáles son las contradicciones actuales de las luchas anti-extractivas.
Panelistas:
- Nate Edenhofer (Departamento de Ciencias Políticas, UCSC)
- Tamara Ortega-Uribe (Departamento de Ciencias Políticas, UCSC)
- Alejandra Watanabe-Farro (Departamento de Estudios Latinoamericanos y Latinos, UCSC)
- Dr. Thomas Chiasson-LeBel (Universidad de l’Ontario Francais (UOF))
- Dr. Alejandro Artiga-Purcell (Instituto de Investigaciones de la Tierra, UCSB)
Comenta: Guillermina Seri (Profesora de Ciencias Políticas, Union College)
Preside: Dr. Fernando Leiva (UCSC)
Conversations on Extractivism in a Post-Pandemic World 2021-2022
The 2021-2022 Conversations on Extractivism in a Post-Pandemic World aim to bring together scholars, community activists, and students to assess how to rethink and transform current analytical frameworks to engage more effectively with contemporary challenges our communities and societies face in the face of these transformations.
In the Americas we are living through systemic and compounding crises of unforeseen consequences: rising levels of inequality and social precarity, a crisis of neoliberal hegemony, political upheavals as traditional political parties and political systems lose credibility, recurring climate catastrophes and a rising number of climate refugees, as well as the lacerating effects of the current global pandemic.
In such a context, the evolving strategies of multinational extractivist corporations and states remain insufficiently studied and understood.
With the series “Conversations on Extractivism in a Post-Pandemic World” we aim to create a space to continue tackling these issues collectively while strengthening networks of cooperation and exchange of ideas and initiatives.