Genealogies of Extractivist Entanglement in Bolivia

This seminar will examine the findings from a four-year ethnographic study of Bolivia’s contested efforts to industrialize the country's massive lithium reserves, which are destined for use in lithium-ion batteries and electric vehicles, key technologies of the green energy transition. In framing the ethnography of this fraught project within longer histories of extractivism and resource utopianism, I hope to show how the anthropology of energy brings much-needed nuance to wider debates over the contradictions and ultimate limitations of energy transition and climate crisis mitigation. 

Departmental Seminar Series Hilary Term 2024

3.15pm, Fridays of Weeks 1-8. 

In person in the Lecture Room, 64 Banbury Road, and on Teams.

Convened by David Gellner and Rosalie Allain