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Modes of Extraction in Latin America’s Lithium Triangle: Explaining Negotiated, Unnegotiated, and Aborted Mining Projects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2022

Lucas I. González Open the ORCID record for Lucas I. González [Opens in a new window]  and
Richard Snyder Open the ORCID record for Richard Snyder [Opens in a new window]
Lucas I. González
Affiliation:
Lucas I. González is a researcher at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), the Universidad Católica Argentina, and the Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Argentina. lgonzalez@unsam.edu.ar; lucas_gonzalez@uca.edu.ar.
Richard Snyder
Affiliation:
Richard Snyder is a professor of political science at Brown University, Providence, RI, USA. Richard_Snyder@brown.edu.
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Abstract

Mitigating climate change requires a global transition from fossil fuels to a “green economy” driven by renewable energies. This shift has fostered massive investments in mining resources, notably lithium in South America, needed to store renewable energies. These mining ventures often produce harmful externalities where lithium is located. In Argentina, a major producer, striking variation has occurred in the fortunes of lithium-mining projects. In some instances, mining companies offered concessions that mitigated environmental damage and improved local socioeconomic conditions. In others, companies made minimal concessions, and in a third set they halted projects in response to local resistance. Why do mining ventures result alternatively in negotiated, unnegotiated, or aborted extraction? The article proposes a new typology of modes of extraction together with a multilevel explanatory framework that centers on the strengths and strategies of transnational mining companies, subnational governments, and local communities in setting the terms for extracting lithium.

Keywords

Lithiumgreen economytransnational mining companiessubnational politicslocal indigenous communitiesfederalism
Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Politics and Society , Volume 65 , Issue 1 , February 2023 , pp. 47 - 73
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the University of Miami

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Footnotes

Conflicts of interest: Lucas González and Richard Snyder declare none.

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