The Hidden Costs of the Energy Transition: Resisting Lithium Extraction in South America

• In Event: How Should STS Address Inequality? As a Subject, a (Dis)Value)? Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives - II

Abstract

A large portion of the lithium needed for its key role in the energy transition lies in a triangle between Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, inhabited mostly by native populations. Most of the mining projects in the area are led by transnational corporations. Local and national governments are in between, somehow negotiating the terms and conditions of the exploitation, and in some cases trying to develop new technologies to process the lithium and to develop new batteries.
In this presentation, we intend to compare two controversies around lithium mining projects in the Argentine province of Jujuy —Olaroz and Salinas Grandes— within Ulrich Beck’s “metamorphosis of the world” framework (Beck, 2015, 2016), that talks about a global transformation as a response to the challenges posed by climate change. In both cases, asymmetries overlap: rural versus urban, local versus national and transnational, native versus Western and Westernized, science versus undone science, natural resources versus technology, labor force versus capital, among others. However, while the first mine was weakly resisted and is already operating, the second faced a much better organized resistance, as a result of which the project is currently in a stalemate. Our aim is to explore some of the conditions that help local communities in making their voices heard in the decision-making process, probably resulting in a less unequal outcome in terms of costs and benefits. Our main hypothesis is that public controversies may play a role, although not exclusive and not enough by themselves, in democratizing this process.

Authors

• Ana Maria Vara, National University of San Martín

• Erica Carrizo, National University of San Martin