Browsing by Subject "extractivism"
Now showing items 1-7 of 7
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(2017)This Master’s thesis examines the contested relations between extractivism and Bolivian endogenous view of ‘development’ through the case of lithium production in Bolivian Salar de Uyuni, Potosí. During the past ten years under president Evo Morales’s administration, Bolivia has introduced the concept of Vivir Bien, living well, in official state strategies replacing at least to an extent the concept of development. Vivir Bien is based on indigenous cosmologies that hold social justice, community and being one with the nature as priorities, and according to these ideals, nature should not be reduced to a commodity. But in practice dependency on extractions of natural resources in Bolivia has only increased in this time period. Lithium deposits in Bolivia are vast, and lithium is a growing industry that could be coupled with sustainable alternatives to hydrocarbon-based sources of energy. But industrialising a high-expertise raw material in a poor and fairly uneducated country such as Bolivia is a complicated endeavour. The principle methodology this research uses is semi-structured qualitative interviewing, which is complemented by critical analysis of policy documents and academic studies that connect with the topic. The empirical findings of the lithium production project unveil issues with planning, transparency and the centralisation of decision making, as well as dubiousness in regard to the environment of the area. The thesis contributes to the academic literature that has shown that while Vivir Bien is a promising and interesting alternative to development at an ideological level, in political practice it remains to a large part a rhetorical instrument and actual politics of the Morales administration can be described as neo-extractivist human development. Additionally, it offers further demonstration of the inherent contradictions within neo-extractivism as a political economic strategy. The findings also underline the significance of resource nationalism in Bolivian politics, which this research argues that functions as a bridge between seemingly incongruous Vivir Bien and extractivism.
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(2022)Uganda’s recent oil discoveries have been described as one of the largest onshore findings in Africa within the past 20 years. It has been estimated that there are 6.5 billion barrels of oil in the Albertine Graben, of which about 1.4 are recoverable. Since the foreign and national stakeholders have launched their oil investment projects, concerns around human and environmental rights violations have been raised internally and internationally. Whereas much scientific work has been produced on oil in Africa, most of this can be placed under the concise umbrella of resource blessing and resource curse. The approach of ‘extractivism’ has come to challenge this simplistic dichotomy, but most of the work about extractivism focuses on Latin America. This thesis, thus, contributes to this growing body of literature. It does so by investigating the discourses that the Ugandan state and the transnational corporation TotalEnergies utilize to promote extractivism in Uganda. More specifically, this thesis aims to answer two questions, namely, what justification methods does the Ugandan state use to legitimate oil extractivism in the Lake Albertine region, and how does the oil corporation Total reproduce narratives of extractivist mindset in legitimizing its operations in the Albertine Graben? Data were collected from policy documents, newspaper articles, and website material. The methods of critical discourse analysis and content analysis and the approaches of extractivism and postcolonialism are applied. The findings show that the Ugandan state legitimates oil through five discourses, namely: economic arguments, employment and social arguments, no substantial ecological effects arguments; statements for energy poverty, energy security, and just transition; and stigmatizing critics arguments. Total uses three distinct discourses, namely, self-regulation and best practice, social and developmental arguments, and no substantial ecological effects arguments. These discourses, while reproducing the extractivist mindset, should be taken seriously as they have severe implications for the wider world.
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(2020)This thesis studies the discourse of governmental actors in resource-rich countries that base much of their economic structures on the extraction of natural resources. The goal of the study is to explore the links between foreign capital and government-led resource extraction ventures and understand what kind of a discourse is built around natural resource ventures and how governments represent these ventures as a viable model for ‘development’. The focus of this study is the case of the new Orinoco Mining Arch – project in Venezuela, established in 2016, that represents a new extractivist turn in the traditionally oil-based economy of the country. In this thesis the link between foreign capital and resource extraction is understood as fundamentally interconnected through the theoretical framework that positions extractivism as part of a developmentalist and neoliberal ontology. The methodological approach of this thesis is that of Critical Discourse Analysis which is presented based on the poststructuralist views of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe on discourse. Furthermore, Fairclough’s approach to Critical Discourse Analysis is used as a way to study and analysis of the research material through textual analysis, discursive practice and social practice. The data consists of three types of material that the Venezuelan governmental actors have published regarding the mining activities of the Orinoco Mining Arch: the opening speech by president Nicolás Maduro at the event to officiate the AMO project, the communications and news articles related to this new project published by the country’s Ministry of Mining and country’s the National Development Plans’ sections that relate to mining. This study shows that attempts to legitimize governmental mining ventures are carried through by building a public image of an ecologically sustainable, dynamic and sovereign mining industry that is deeply linked to the Chavist-nationalist imaginary, and intertwined with more subtle elements, including foreign capital, in the discourse. The analysis of the data found that this resource nationalist discourse, its origin and its features are currently reproducing a developmentalist based neo-extractivist narrative which praises ’development’, considers resource extraction as necessary, and follows a neoliberal logic of accumulation of capital. Thus, despite of its apparent potential for conflict, foreign capital it is part of the developmentalist narrative that the governmental discourse creates. Its manifestation as neo-extractivism has an immense potential for destruction in the socio-ecological context.
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(2024)In Sápmi, the traditional homelands of the Indigenous Sámi, climate change and green transition have created together a double burden for the Arctic ecosystems and the Sámi. As an effort to mitigate the climate change, the transition towards green sources of energy and mineral intensive technologies have created conflicting interests for land use in Sápmi, as extractivist activities have been located for instance to their traditional reindeer pasture lands. This thesis focuses on representations of Western edited media about green transition related extractive activities in Sámi context. Construction and operation of Fosen wind farm in Norway and expansion of mineral extraction in Giron, Sweden, act as examples of such activities. The research question is: what issues the Western edited media represents when discussing extractive activities regarding green transition, in the Sámi context? The thesis derives from the identified research gap of the matter, as this kind of research regarding the Sámi has not been conducted before. The thesis uses inductive thematic analysis to identify issues the news media articles represent regarding cases of Fosen and Giron. The research data consists of 35 news articles, published between 2016-2024. The applicable case examples were identified in data collection as illustrating the green transition related extractivist activities having significant impact on the Sámi communities. Through thematic analysis, six themes were identified and further analyzed through the framework of Indigenous Environmental Justice (IEJ). The analysis shows that the media represents green transition related extractivism in both negative- and positive lights. Whereas wind power and mineral extraction are represented as essential drivers for sustainable future, they also have negative impacts for the ecosystems in Sápmi and to the Sámi culture and livelihoods. The activities are represented as causing disputes between the Sámi and other stakeholders, due to conflicting interests of land-use and the Sámi’s experiences of violation of rights and unfairness. The activities taking place in Sápmi are often represented as continuation of Western colonialism, planned without sufficient consultation and involvement of the local Sámi communities. Yet, the Sámi are represented as solution-oriented, aiming to actively protect their traditional lands. The struggle of the Sámi with Western extractivism was also represented as part of wider global struggle of Indigenous people, whose traditional homelands these activities have penetrated to. These issues identified support the notions of IEJ about Western legal systems as failing to resolve environmental injustices and current extractivist activities as a form of on-going colonialism. The analysis also shows that the provision of multiple ontologies and legal orders, intergenerational- and other-than-human justice and acknowledgement of the distinct legal status of Indigenous peoples are needed, as argued by IEJ scholars. In the future, as the extractivist activities in the Arctic are expected to intensify, there is an urgent need for critical assessment of the manner the green transition is currently carried out in Western societies, participatory evaluation of impacts of the extractive projects and emphasis on aspects of fairness.
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(2023)Despite active Indigenous movement in the country, Ecuadorian governments have continued to exploit natural resources with increasing speed legitimising extractivism as a means to social development. Indigenous women are gradually taking leadership positions in the predominantly male-dominant Indigenous movement in Ecuador, and Amazonian Indigenous women have strengthened ties with other groups as well. The research questions of this thesis participate in the post-developmentalist discussion on extractivism and alternatives, resistance and finding solidarities to fight against subordination and destruction of territories, knowledge, culture, bodies and life. Drawing from feminist political ecology’s critical decolonial and intersectional feminist perspective, the thesis analyses, what “truths” the Ecuadorian state is creating about development, Indigenous peoples and their territories, and what the possible implications to Amazonian Indigenous women are. It is also interested in what strategies Indigenous women use to resist the extractive policies justified with those “truths”, and what kind of spaces of resistance they are creating. By doing this, the thesis tries to answer, how Ecuador’s extractive policies affect eco-cultural pluralism in Ecuadorian Amazonia. The main method for analysis is a Foucauldian strand of critical discourse analysis, complemented with elements of qualitative content analysis. The primary data collected for this thesis consists of government development plans and official communication, as well as of a report, statements and social media publications by Indigenous organisations and collectives. In Ecuadorian governmental discourses further expansion of extractivism(s) is still justified with economic and social development, especially in the areas of impact. What is new in the governmental discourses is the wide dismissal of Indigenous peoples’ existence and conceptualisations of “good living”. Dismissing topics, such as Indigenous peoples’ rights to their territories, and discrediting Indigenous knowledge suggests that citizen participation and eco-cultural pluralism are supported only as far as they do not threaten the development of strategic sectors of the state. Amazonian Indigenous women resist extractivism with multiple strategies. They are building solidarities by establishing alliances with ecofeminist groups, international environmental NGOs and human rights organisations. By tying their ethno-territorial demands into global climate and social justice discourses Indigenous women are opening a shared space able to mobilise larger crowds for their cause. Thus, while making visible the embodied impacts of patriarchal extractivism, Indigenous women are also simultaneously decolonising feminism. Although hegemonic government discourses embrace nationalist imaginaries and identities related to extractivisms, the resistance of Amazonian Indigenous women may cultivate common ground of understanding with the rest of the Ecuadorian society and international community.
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(2023)This thesis studies the relationship between resistance and transportation infrastructure. The aim is to explore the links between the material and cultural contexts around strategically important transportation infrastructure and social movements with strategies to disrupt the flows of infrastructural networks. These issues are studied through the case of the civic strike of Buenaventura and related social mobilisation during the period of 2017-2022, in which the operations of one of Colombia’s most strategic ports have been brought to a halt for weeks at a time. The study examines the context of the strike through the theoretical frameworks of extractivist capital, infrastructure related grievances, racism, and structural unemployment caused by dispossession. The thesis discusses the themes of ethno-territorial conflict and colonialism using various theorists from the field of development studies and political sciences. This thesis portrays how the mobilisation in Buenaventura stems from the historical process in which the Afro-Colombian communities have created and defended an alternative model for development that highlights the collective rights of local communities. This thesis was conducted as a qualitative case study that uses content analysis as a method of analysis. This ethnographically oriented research was conducted as participatory observation, semi-structured interviews, and integrative literary research. The data consists of NGO reports and interviews with local activists, social leaders, academics, and government officials, alongside an in-depth theoretical review. This study shows that traditional ways of understanding capital and labour resistance offer useful information but are not adequate for explaining the context behind social movements targeting infrastructural networks. Rather than resorting to traditional means of labour suppression, the division between local communities and infrastructural actors has been created through processes of exclusion, leading to a situation in which local communities have little access to the port and the wealth generated by its activities. The analysis led to the conclusion that issues of land rights, colonialism, infrastructural development, violence, and corruption are all embedded in the dynamics of state neglect towards the communities around the port of Buenaventura.
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(2024)As part of the European Green Deal, the European Union has set a goal to increase its domestic raw material extraction by 2030. The EU Critical Raw Materials Act lays out concrete goals for securing and strengthening EU’s domestic supply of critical raw materials. The Critical Raw Materials Act will potentially have significant impacts on land use in Europe’s mineral rich regions. These include northern Fennoscandia which is also home to the Indigenous Sámi inhabiting Sápmi. Extractive projects have multifaceted impacts on local communities and the environment, and mining-related conflicts are on the rise globally. The EU’s goal to increase mining domestically calls for the critical assessment of mining from the perspective of justice. The theoretical framework of this thesis comprises of environmental justice and extractivism. The geographical focus of this thesis is on mining in the northern parts of Fennoscandia – Norway, Sweden and Finland. My research question is: how do different stakeholders from Norway, Sweden and Finland view increasing mining in northern Fennoscandia from an environmental justice perspective? My method is critical discourse analysis consisting of three levels of analysing discourse: textual, interpretative, and critical. I combine perspectives of environmental justice to the study of discourse and apply an environmental justice framework consisting of procedural, recognition and epistemic justice. My data consists of stakeholder feedback submitted to the European Commission’s open online consultation on the Critical Raw Materials Act proposal. The aim is to understand how different stakeholders consider environmental justice aspects as part of increasing extractive activities in northern Fennoscandia. The analysis reveals that most stakeholders agree with the need to increase mining of critical raw materials, and the northernmost Fennoscandia is coined as an important location for mining critical raw materials. Regions emphasize the involvement of local communities and the positive contributions of mining locally. Sámi representatives underline Indigenous rights and strengthening Sámi participation in decision-making. Business actors emphasize the need to accelerate mining permitting processes and to reassess environmental legislation in the context of mining projects. Many stakeholders view technological solutions as a means to conduct mining sustainably, and business actors in particular call for a change of attitudes towards mining. A critical analysis reveals that in terms of environmental justice the discourse is rather limiting; local and traditional knowledge and livelihoods are not thoroughly addressed, and the environment is viewed mainly as a resource.
Now showing items 1-7 of 7