The 1st EXALT Dialogue of 2024 delved into the extractivist nature of modern urbanization and alternative practices within architectural and urban planning. The discussion explores how architects, urban planners, and land-use professionals can address extractivism in their work and asks about the possibilities of fostering alternative and transformative practices in urban planning. To address these challenges, the speakers discuss the significant environmental and economic implications of resource extraction and evolving urban-periphery relations.
The speakers approach urban centers as crucial players in growth-based economies as nodes of capital accumulation, where the connection between the financial and real economy drives the increase of consumption and the imports of materials for construction. As a result, architects and planners find themselves grappling with the consequences of such economic priorities. In conjunction, the neoliberal privatization of public capital has diminished the frame in which urban planners are able to work, as market-led planning models prioritize attracting investors and celebrating growth as development. This trend both reinforces and intensifies extractive practices in both urban and rural areas, eroding the possibilities for planning in non-growing contexts.
Providing insights into these issues were Salvatore De Rosa (University of Copenhagen), Emel Tuupainen (Tampere University) and Ville Kelokumpu (University of Oulu).
In January, EXALT was delighted to welcome Shayan Shokrgozar, from the University of Bergen, to give a presentation and hold a discussion on alternative emancipatory energy futures, drawing from anti-colonial struggles and post-development praxes, grounded in fieldwork in Rajasthan, India.
The socio-ecological devastation wrought by the extraction of fossil fuels and their mobilization as fuel has culminated in climate change, deteriorating the condition of the human and other-than-human worlds. Whether conventional or (often incongruently called) "green," the extraction of resources and energy, alongside control over the lands on which they exist, is an impetus for the loss of a rich tapestry of lifeways (e.g., ethnocide), ecological degradation (e.g., ecocide), and climate change.
Optimism over the technical possibilities of transitioning from conventional energy sources to their unconventional counterparts has bypassed the emancipatory possibilities of alternative models of social life, such as post-extractivism, also being critical to improving social cohesion and ecological well-being. Rajasthan, India has seen a myriad of military, extractive, and infrastructural encroachments on agropastoral lands. The latest are industrial-scale solar plants, which cause the loss of pastoral and sacred lands (orans) used by subsistence-based villagers, semi-nomadic people, and other-than-human entities, in turn resulting in material dispossession and spiritual deprivation. These "sustainability transitions" trajectories, pursuing progress, growth, and modernity, violate place-based onto-epistemologies and the interests of human and other-than-human inhabitants.
Drawing from anti-colonial struggles and post-development praxes, and grounded in fieldwork in the state of Rajasthan, Shokrgozar explores the urgency of alternative energy futures that can emanate from the communities. Overall, their talk argues that through prioritizing redistribution and sufficiency over expansion and growth, alternative energy futures can safeguard human and other-than-human well-being within socio-ecological limits.
The reputation of mining companies despoiling environments, endangering workers, and igniting conflicts, if not, civil wars is well-known. Yet, since the 1990s and, specifically, the Global Mining Initiative (GMI) enormous efforts have been made by extractive companies to rehabilitate and refashion their image. Efforts towards ‘corporate social responsibility’, mineral certification schemes, Environmental Social Governance (ESG) and Due Diligence efforts are among the high-profile programmatic efforts. This trajectory continues with so-called ‘transition materials,’ which are materials, such as nickel, lithium and rare earth elements among others, that are dedicated to lower-carbon energy systems. While ‘transition materials’ are mined for non-transitional purposes (and often used in the military sector), mining companies are also investing in and applying lower-carbon power generation (wind, solar, hydroelectric power), meanwhile automating, digitalizating and electrifying their operations to call it ‘green mining.’ High-profile efforts, however, are matched with more subtle and under-handed maneuvering.
This rebranding of mining companies as socially responsible and environmentally friendly takes on more extreme efforts. European public funds, specifically through Horizon and other research grant schemes, are being directed to extractive companies, or their affiliates, in an effort to persuade people and members of government of the needs to expand conventional and so-called green extractive operations. The Portuguese Prime Minister’s recent resignation over corruption allegations related to imposing green extractivist projects serves as another recent example. The imposition of mining by every means remains an ever-pressing issue.
The 4th EXALT Dialogue: Weaponizing Public Funds— Revisiting the Social Engineering of Extraction looks further into the recent efforts of mining companies and governmental institutions to enforce extractive operations. Join us to explore this issue further, learning about the depths of recent private-public efforts in Europe to organize and engineer the social conditions to make extractive operations politically and practically feasible. Talking us through these issues will be Bojana Novakovic (Marš sa Drine, Serbia), Nik Völker (Mining Watch Portugal), and Andrea Brock (University of Sussex, UK). They will present how they have tracked, documented, and experienced the social engineering of extraction, which will be followed by time for them to exchange with each other, before opening up the floor for questions and answers from the audience.
Radical ways of studying extractivisms and alternatives was a two-day event on methodologies organised by EXALT and Helsinki Institute for Social Sciences and Humanities (HSSH) at the University of Helsinki on the 25th and 26th of October. The event aimed to explore novel methodological approaches and analyses to study resistance against extractivism and environmental injustice, which challenge conventional ways of carrying out research within social sciences.
On Wednesday 25th of October Dr. Japhy Wilson from Bangor University gave a keynote speech entitled ‘Gonzo Ethnography on the Extractive Frontier’ in the context of Ecuadorian oil frontier and extractivist metropolis of Iquitos in the Peruvian Amazon. The event was commented by Teivo Teivainen and Sarah Green.
In the late 1960s, the journalist Hunter S. Thompson and his friend, the radical Chicano lawyer Oscar Zeta Acosta, developed an experimental form of research and writing that came to be known as gonzo. Abandoning any pretence of journalistic objectivity, and based on direct participation in the subversive activities of its research subjects, gonzo is a methodology that seeks to grasp and convey the lived reality of extreme events, transgressive acts, and insurrectional situations. This approach has since been deployed by criminologists in the form of “edge ethnography,” but has rarely been applied in other disciplines. What might such a methodology reveal about the contested realities of natural resource frontiers, and the actual and imagined alternatives to extractive capital?
This speech explores these questions through a series of reflections on and excerpts from Dr. Wilson's deployment of gonzo-as-method in three extractive contexts: an uprising against the combined forces of multinational capital and a militarized state on an Ecuadorian oil frontier; a carnival celebration in the extractivist metropolis of Iquitos in the Peruvian Amazon; and an armed resistance to a violent police eviction of a landless people’s illegal settlement of privatized jungle on the outskirts of the same city. This speech suggests that the insights provided by full involvement in such events can disrupt certain dominant critical assumptions concerning the relationship between extractivism and resistance, the nature of the pluriverse, and the possibilities of radical transformation amidst the monstrous dynamics of cannibal capitalism.
On Thursday 26th of October, Anja Nygren, Sergio Sauer, Ksenija Hanaček and Markus Kröger discussed methodological approaches to the study of extractivisms and their transformative alternatives.
Research on global extractivisms and alternatives has expanded fast in the past few years, becoming a key research topic in several academic traditions. Extractivisms and their alternatives have thus been studied from many different methodological perspectives. This panel will discuss the different ways in which extractivisms and transformative alternatives have been studied, including varying methodological and onto-epistemic approaches and considerations.
The topics include both qualitative and quantitative methods, such as ethnographic approaches, Qualitative Comparative Analysis, participant observation, different types of field research and interviews, mapping, network analysis, and other methods. The goal is to foster further understanding across differing approaches on the complementarities, differences and similarities of varying methodological approaches to the study of extractivisms and alternatives.
EXALT was delighted to welcome Georgia de Leeuw, from the Political Science Department at Lund University, to give a presentation and hold discussion on iron ore mining and the green steel transition in Sweden.
Sweden is one of the countries heralded as the frontriders of the steel transition, leading efforts to decarbonise steel production with hydrogen-based technology. Visibly claiming this space of ‘green’ steel leadership internationally, the former Swedish Prime Minister gifted Joe Biden a candle holder made of the first batch of fossil free steel with the engraving “a piece of the future”.
In this EXALT presentation, Georgia de Leeuw will discuss the growth-driven decarbonisation efforts’ continued orientation toward extraction as a naturalised path ahead, toward a green steel future. This is visible in the steel transition’s emphasis on an upscale in production and the accompanied pressures on energy, land, biodiversity, and people. The steel transition is situated in what has been framed as the “land of the future” or “Sweden’s mining mecca” – the land of the indigenous Sami peoples, a sacrificed space dedicated to industrial expansion.
This talk summarizes de Leeuw’s PhD research and scrutinizes the green transition’s alignment with the logic of extractivism. She does this by juxtaposing industry, state and local notions of green steel futures against voices of ‘misalignment’ with the logic of extractivism in search for alternative transition trajectories, or what she understands as ‘killjoy futures’. Her research is based on about 70 interviews and 15 observations in Norrbotten, as well as secondary data in the form of reports, pre-recorded workshops and seminars, and mission statements.
The enduring problem of extractivism remains at the center of decolonial critique and action: Rejecting and fighting the extraction of habitats, people and ideas in the service of imperialist societies. This, moreover, entails fighting and negotiating the forced imposition of ideologies and relationships that condition, if not shape, how people live, work and relate with their habitats, ecologies and the peoples within them (Simpson, 2017). This Exalt Dialogue opens a roundtable discussion with four theorists challenging and fighting extractivism and (neo)colonialism. This dialogue explores how extractivism intersects with decolonial thought.
This intersection, however, relates to definitions. Identifying the key attributes of extractivism and (neo)colonialism, and their exterminating consequences (Dunlap, 2021). It is significant for how people understand and relate to state institutions, raw material development and market forces. We must ask, is industrialism itself a form of extractivism and, if so, what does that mean for everyday struggle and participation in state institutions? Anti-extractivist and decolonial struggle imply ardent, committed and, frequenlty, life-threatening struggle, yet we see these terms becoming academic industries or slogans to write on signs and display at the European Parliament. Is “decolonize now” the new “democracy now?”
How people identify the ‘colonial model’ will determine how terms like “decolonization” and “decolonality” are used. Is it possible to decolonize ‘state institutions,’ ‘international relations,’ ‘national security’ and ‘extractive industries’ or are these claims a symptom of “an insidious conciliatory process of decolonial recuperation rooted in cultural and symbolic change primarily fixated on transforming social stature” (IAM, 2017: 3)? Decolonization implies anti-colonial warfare, combating statist counterinsurgency and neoliberalism, which the Zapatista’s acknowledge the latter, as “a new war to conquer territories” (Marcos, 2001: 559). Is “the decolonial current just an academic trend” (Esteve, 2023 [2018]: 134) spreading political divisions, essentialized identities and rudimentary binaries (Asher, 2013; Dunlap, 2022; Wilson, 2023)? Is the state an evolution of the colonial model and (Dunlap, 2021), if so, what does this mean for representative democracies and the social democratic ‘Nordic model’?
This Exalt Dialogue seeks to look at these questions and more with Amanda Lickers, Kiran Asher, Usman Ashraf, and Carlos Tornel. This will be followed by a time for authors to exchange with each other, before opening up the floor for questions and answers from the audience. This Dialogue seeks to seed political self-reflection and consider ways to remediate the harms of extractivsim and (neo)colonialism that are ever-present and proliferating today.
Degrowth has taken academia by storm and now slowly makes its way into European and international policy agendas. From repeated reference and consideration in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2022, IPCC) reports to European Commission interest and recent awarding of the EU Synergy Grant to the Research & Degrowth team. The existential threat that capitalism and industrialization poses to the planet, manifesting in widespread socio-ecological and climate catastrophe, has made the degrowth position—demanding the reduction of material production and energy consumption—timely and necessary. Degrowth, however, is not just about material and energy reduction, but also regrowing happier and healthier lifeways, pastimes and forms of work. The popular uptake of degrowth cannot be overstated, but what is degrowth in reality, what kind of worlds it aims to enact, and how will degrowth actually remedy the present and anticipated trajectory of extractivism and capitalist growth?
This EXALT Dialogues sought to raise this question and discuss it with degrowth proponents. “How does Degrowth confront extractivism and what can that look like in practice?”. This question will was answered by the renowed degrowth scholar Dr. Marta Conde in a short keynote, which was then discussed by Dr. Brototi Roy, Dr. Katharina Richter and Dr. Alexander Dunlap.
'Insurrection in Energy Research: Pluriversal Encounters with Energy Transition & Renewability' is the first event of EXALT Dialogue which is a quadrennial online event series that fosters critical thinking and discussion on extractivisms and transformative alternatives and which also aim to deconstruct and disrupt thinking that perpetuates dominant power structures, colonialities and growthism. In this first event we welcomed scholars Zoi Christina Siamanta, Larry Lohmann, Carlos Tornel and Alexander Dunlap to discuss how extractivisms underlie low-carbon energy systems and what type of alternative pathways can we foster as individuals, collectives and communities for actually sustainable energy transition.
The hopeful claims of “green,” “clean” and “renewable” energy to transition capitalist societies towards socio-ecologically harmonious political economies have fallen short on closer investigation. Material and energy consumption is increasing, low-carbon infrastructures are adding to existing hydrocarbon and nuclear energy sources and, still more, wind, solar and hydrological extractivism is creating similar violent socio-ecological disruptions on the ground. Capitalist energy development reproduces the same expansive and accumulating problems whether energy is produced by conventional hydrocarbons or low-carbon infrastructures—the latter concealing extensive mineral extractive and hydrocarbon dependent supply-webs. This naturally raises the question: “If low-carbon infrastructures are also ‘bad’, then what can we do?”
The first EXALT Dialogue confronts this question: What are the obstacles and pathways for creating alternative energy systems? This question speaks to the issue of global extractivisms underlying low-carbon energy systems and what type of alternative visions we could imagine as individuals, collectives and communities. This EXALT Dialogue invites us to consider an insurrection in energy research, delving into the Pluriverse by discussing the coloniality of energy systems with four energy researchers with different critical perspectives and ideas on the matter of electricity production and development.
¡En español abajo!
Link to the recorded event on YouTube in English.
The motivation for this roundtable is to advance the definition and understanding of agro/agrarian extractivisms. We want to have a serious debate on the different nuances and meaning of extractivism, extrativismo (from Brazilian Portuguese), and other variations of the concept that are used in theory and practice. There are four broad guiding questions that will be explored during this roundtable discussion.
1. What should be included in the definition of extractivism and what should not?; 2. How are agroextractivisms defined?; 3. Do the resistance efforts against agroextractivisms differ from resistance and transformative alternatives to other types of extractivisms?; 4. What are the roots (and consequences) of the different language’s uses of the extractivism concept?
The roundtable features an exciting line-up! For our opening words we will be joined by Anja Nygren, University of Helsinki.
In Spanish!
Enlace al evento grabado en español en YouTube
Acompáñenos en este debate sobre cómo definir diversos tipos de extractivismo, con enfoque en la noción de Extractivismo Agrario/Agroextractivismo.
Con el fin de avanzar en la definición e interpretación del extractivismo agrario, la mesa redonda busca desarrollar un debate riguroso sobre las particularidades y sentidos diversos del término, incluyendo la noción de extrativismo, en idioma Portugués de Brasil, y otros usos del concepto en la teoría y en la práctica. La mesa redonda busca discutir las siguientes cuatro preguntas generales:
1. ¿Cómo se definen los agroextractivismos?; 2. ¿Cuáles son las causas y las consecuencias de la interpretación diferenciada del concepto de extractivismo en diferentes idiomas? ; 3. ¿Qué debería incluirse/excluirse de la definición de extractivismo?; 4. ¿Son las alternativas y dinámicas de resistencia frente a los agroextractivismos diferentes de aquellas frente a otros tipos de extractivismo?
¡La mesa redonda incluye a una interesante serie de participantes! Para las palabras de apertura contaremos con Anja Nygren, de la Universidad de Helsinki.
This event only took place in person at University on September 5, 2022. There is no linked recording, however we are including the description of the event.
Speaker: Paul Bowles, University of Northern British Columbia; Chair: Barry Gills, University of Helsinki; Discussant: Eija Ranta, University of Helsinki
As the world confronts climate change, environmental degradation, rampant social and economic inequalities, wars and insecurity, and an increased recognition of Indigenous rights, extractive activities have come under increasing scrutiny and attracted increased resistance; the future of fossil fuel and mineral extraction has perhaps never been in greater doubt.
States have in many cases responded by making larger claims for extraction. That is, they have sought to persuade their citizens that extractive activities can bring more than the limited economic benefits that have typified many countries’ experiences to date. In this way, states have sought to re-imagine extractive activities as presenting an opportunity for a broader social goal to be met. In this way, states are designing and promoting ‘extractive bargains’, a search for an acceptance by a wide range of social actors of the state’s preferred extractive policies in exchange for delivering on wider social goals.
This seminar presents preliminary results from a forthcoming co-edited book and will discuss the variety of ways in which different states have sought to construct these extractive bargains designed to convince their citizens that continuing, expanding and even decreasing natural resource extraction can bring valuable societal benefits while minimizing the potential negative effects.
Bio: Paul Bowles is Professor of Global and International Studies at the University of Northern British Columbia, Canada. He has published widely on globalization, development, China’s political economy, and extractivism. He is co-editor of The Essential Guide to Critical Development Studies, 2nd edition, London: Routledge, 2022 and Resource Communities in a Globalizing Region: Development, Agency and Contestation in Northern British Columbia, Vancouver: UBC Press, 2016 and has recently published articles the Journal of Political Ecology, Globalizations, Resources Policy, and Arctic.
EXALT hosted a one-day webinar conference "Green Extractivism & Violent Conflict" on June 17, 2022. This exciting conference featured three plenary speakers, and 16 exciting papers across 4 panels. The webinar conference explored the multifaceted connections between ‘green extractivism’ and violent conflicts. The speakers offered fresh empirical and theoretical insights into the ways ‘decarbonization’, ‘green growth’ and climate change mitigation policies shape and are shaped by dynamics of conflict and violence.
Keynotes:
Read more about the keynotes here.
Panels:
Watch the recordings of the keynotes & panels here.
We live in times of multiple concurrent crises. Both the climate emergency and the pandemic are forcing us to rethink how human life can be arranged in relation to all other life. Persistent inequality and exploitation of both human and non-human life make visible the violence embedded in the dominant “normality”. Responses to the current crises need to be both immediate and guided by practices for deep transformation in the long-term. In this task, education continues to have a crucial role.
There is however a need to re-think how education, learning and teaching are organized. Universities cannot continue to teach and educate as if we’re not living amidst a mass species extinction and climate emergency, nor can universities continue to prepare students to be members of a society which is destroying the very life that it is premised on. At the same time, the increasing precarity of academic work and neoliberalisation of universities pose huge challenges for fostering critical education.
In this event we discussED and exploreD ways to transform education, teaching and learning in universities in relation to the multiple socio-ecological crises and global inequality. We heard from two brilliant researchers and educators about the work they do in educating “as if people and the planet mattered”. Emphasis was given to collective re-imagination, but also to the practical tools and ways of teaching that participants can incorporate in their own work in higher education.
The event was aimed to be a co-learning space, with the purpose to stop together in the discomfort of living in a world of hurt and crisis, all the while opening up spaces for alternative and transformational ways of learning.
The event was directed towards university educators, lecturers, PhD-students and all others working with or interested in transforming education towards a more just and “care-full” being.
Speakers:
Luis “Iñaki” Prádanos Garcia (professor, Miami University)
Luis Prádanos (Iñaki) is a professor of contemporary Hispanic cultural studies at Miami University. He is the author of Postgrowth Imaginaries (Liverpool UP, 2018). Iñaki's research and teaching interests include environmental humanities, political ecology, critical energy studies, regenerative design, and decolonial extinction studies. His teaching approach is based on "The Pedagogy of Degrowth". In his free time he enjoys dancing and designing a permaculture food forest in his yard.
Sharon Stein (assistant professor at University of British Columbia)
Sharon Stein is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Studies at the University of British Columbia. Her research examines the complexities and challenges of internationalization, decolonization, and sustainability in higher education. Through this work, she seeks to interrupt common colonial patterns of educational engagement, including: uneven and extractive relationships between dominant and marginalized communities; simplistic solutions to complex problems; and ethnocentric imaginaries of justice, responsibility, and change. She is the founder of the Critical Internationalization Studies Network, and a founding member of the Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures collective.
Facilitator: Saana Hokkanen (PhD researcher at the Global Development Studies, University of Helsinki)
The event is co-organized with the Global Development Studies discipline (University of Helsinki).
This EXALT book launch event on March 17th at 16-17 (UTC+2) on Zoom focused on Gediminas Lesutis’s recently published book The Politics of Precarity: Spaces of Extractivism, Violence, and Suffering (Routledge) that explores how intensifying geographies of extractive capitalism shape vulnerable lives and (im)possibilities of transformative politics in historically marginalised areas of the global economy.
Engaging critical theory on space, precarity, and resistance with ethnographic research on destructive real-life impacts of dispossession in the epicentre of the extractive boom in contemporary Mozambique, The Politics of Precarity theorises precarity as a configuration of space, violence, and politics. Going beyond labour relations, or governance of life in liberal democracies, that are typically explored in literatures on precarity, the book shows how people dispossessed by natural resource extraction are subjected to structural, symbolic, and direct modalities of violence; this, Lesutis argues, simultaneously constitutes their suffering and ceaseless desire, however implausible, to be included into abstract space of extractivism as the sole pathway to a “better life”.
Reflecting on these dynamics of everyday life in the epicentre of extractivism, The Politics of Precarity urges the reader to think critically about how, despite the multifarious violence that it engenders, extractive capital accumulation is sustained even in the margins, historically excluded from contingently lived imaginaries of a "good life" or “development” promised by capitalism.
Two discussants – Jennifer Fluri and Saska Petrova – reflected on the book’s contributions to understanding the complex politics of violence and precarity endemic to extractivism and contemporary capitalist development, as well as possibilities of politicization. After interventions from each of these scholars and an exchange with the author, the floor was then open for a facilitated Q&A session with the attendants.
Speakers:
Author - Gediminas Lesutis, Marie Curie Fellow in Geography, University of Amsterdam
Discussant - Jennifer Fluri, Professor of Human Geography, University of Colorado
Discussant - Saska Petrova, Senior Lecturer in Human Geography, University of Manchester
January 31, 2022
Capitalism and Industrialism have been systematically consuming the planet, working to assimilate and homogenize human and nonhumans into their networks of production and consumption. This has had exterminating consequences, taking a serious toll on human and biological diversity, triggering widespread socio-ecological crisis, climate catastrophe, and is making a sixth extinction an imminent possibility. John Clark consequently has argued that the ‘Necrocene’ is far more accurate than the Anthropocene to describe this geological epoch. The harsh realities of technological capitalism raise the conceptual relevance of genocide and ecocide in research. Why are researchers systematically underestimating the progressive and ‘slow’ cumulative impact of capitalism, industrialization, and technological development?
The webinar focused on bridging this gap by exploring colonial/critical genocide studies in relationship to political ecology, anthropology, and human geography. Discussing critical genocide studies in relationship to fieldwork, this webinar unpacked the particular relevance of the ‘genocide-ecocide nexus’ to political ecology, but also the difficult dilemmas faced when substantiating the claims of research participants on the ground.
The webinar began with the keynote speaker, Dr. Alexander Dunlap, who gave a presentation based around two open access articles (see links below) discussing how they came to critical genocide studies, their experience with applying these terms, their relevance, and the dilemmas. Laying out a terrain of terms, reasons, and concerns, 3 discussants— Markus Kröger, Sakshi Aravind and Martín Correa Arce—reflected on these studies, concerns, and dilemmas in relation to their own experiences, work, and ideas. After short presentations from each these scholars and an exchange, a facilitated Q&A session with the attendants was hosted.
Speakers:
Here are links to the featured articles by Alexander Dunlap:
If you are interested in these topics, please check out the following readings:
EXALT Conference 2021 sought to draw together diverse critical analyses of the phenomena of global extractivisms and the myriad alternatives being actively pursued in both theory and practice. It was the intention of this conference to contribute to, expand, and deepen the concept of extractivism and the role of alternatives beyond the conventional usage connected to natural resources. We hoped to catalyze and facilitate inter- and transdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration therefore we invited researchers of all academic career-levels to join the discussion.
October 5, 2021
What is Indigenous womens' role in self-governance, self-determination and autonomy building? This forum brought different knowledges from Finland, Sápmi, and Mexico to discuss womens' contributions to self-determination, self-governance, and autonomy building. These processes are also closely linked and intersect with education, well-being, environmental justice, language, and cultural heritage. The speakers of the forum shared their experiences in collectivity- and communality-building as well as gender equality in Indigenous societies. How have speakers’ own practices and methodologies been drawn from or impacted communality- and collectivity-building in Indigenous societies? From women’s perspectives, how have they impacted transformation and health in Indigenous territories and of Indigenous societies?
Speakers included, Helga West, Irja Seurujärvi-Kari, Eija Ranta, and Pirjo Kristiina Virtanen. Five Indigenous women guests from Mexico will comment on the panelists, which will be followed by a Q&A and collective discussion.
The event was organised by University of Helsinki Indigenous Studies and the Global Extractivisms and Alternatives Initiative (EXALT) in collaboration with Armadillo Collective Finland. This activity was funded by the Finnish University Partnership for International Development (UniPID).
July 15, 2021
One of EXALT's contributors University of Helsinki researcher of Global Development studies Eija Ranta gave a presentation on "Learning from Indigenous views of quality of life in Latin America" at the Reimagining 'Quality of Life' and 'Social Wellbeing': Indigenous Perspectives About Quality of Life online workshops hosted by New Economy Network Australia (NENA) and the University of Newcastle (UoN). Ranta sheds light on some comparisons between diverse indigenous experiences and on possible similarities and differences. She gives examples of indigenous quality of life and wellbeing by referring to the work of Sámi indigenous scholars in Finland. You can find the online workshop in its full length on NENA's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXH2IWGl338
May 20, 2021 16-17.30 GMT
EXALT got to host a book launch for Our Extractive Age: Expressions of Violence and Resistance edited by Judith Shapiro and John-Andrew McNeish. The event included an introduction by the editors, short interventions by the chapter authors, and an interactive Q&A session with the audience.
Our Extractive Age emphasizes how the spectrum of violence associated with natural resource extraction permeates contemporary collective life. It records the increasing rates of brutal suppression of local environmental and labor activists in rural and urban sites of extraction and recognizes related violence in areas we might not expect. Contributors argue that extractive violence—visible, symbolic, and structural—is not an accident or side effect, but rather it is a core logic of the 21st century planetary experience. This book also explores how much of the new violence of extraction has become cloaked in the discourse of "green development," "green building," and “green technologies,” which often depend on the continuance of social exploitation and the contaminating practices of non-renewable extraction. The volume also presents that resistance is as multi-scalar and heterogeneous as the violence it inspires.
May 18, 2021, 12.15 – 14 EEST (UTC+3)
EXALT hosted a session called “Extractivisms and Alternatives” at the Sustainability Science Days organized by Aalto Sustainability and Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS). This session was a robust exploration of renewables, recycling, and new tech developments that could help to address the current forms of destructive and unsustainable extraction of raw materials.
The topic of extractivism is gaining more importance as a new key concept that helps to understand, at a deeper level, the causes of destructive resource extractive projects and overall political economic models built on this extractivist paradigm. There is a growing debate around how to find alternatives to destructive extractive processes, and how to identify and implement alternative ways to provide raw materials and create sustainable livelihoods and production processes. The Extractivisms and Alternatives -session will focus on unsustainable extraction practices and the technological and political solutions that stand as alternatives in the face of extractivism. The session creates opportunities for dialogue and development of common vocabularies across disciplines.
Session conveners
Associate professor Markus Kröger, Doctoral Student Sophia Hagolani-Albov, Postdoctoral Researcher Ossi Ollinaho (University of Helsinki)
Assistant Professor Annukka Santasalo-Aarnio (Aalto University)
Speakers and their presentation titles
Circular textile economy: social and environmental synergies or tradeoffs? Anna Härri, Helena Dahlbo, and Jarkko Levänen
Critical factors for enhancing the circular economy in waste management, Hanna Salmenperä, Kati Pitkänen, Petrus Kautto and Laura Saikku
Reusing mine tailings as cemented paste backfill material (CPB), Soili Solismaa and Tommi Kauppila
Saving the Environment by Being Green with Fintech: exploring the contradictions between environmentalism and reality in the case of Ant Forest, Zeng Zhen
Exploring Kiertovalu, Tommi Sappinen
Why is agroforestry not expanding but industrial monocultures are expanding in Brazil?, Markus Kröger and Ossi Ollinaho
April 29, 2021, 14-15.15 EEST (UTC +3)
EXALT's book discussion about Markus Kröger’s recent book Iron Will: Global Extractivism and Mining Resistance in Brazil and India, which explored the role of extractivist policies, their global significance and the local efforts to resist them, in the context of iron ore mining in Brazil and India. To discuss his book Kröger was joined by Professor Alf Nilsen and Sakshi Aravind.
Iron Will: Global Extractivism and Mining Resistance in Brazil and India lays bare the role of extractivist policies and efforts to resist these policies through a deep ethnographic exploration of globally important iron ore mining in Brazil and India. It also addresses resistance strategies to extractivism and tracks their success, or lack thereof, through a comparison of peaceful and armed resource conflicts, explaining how different means of resistance arise. Using the distinctly different contexts and political systems of Brazil and India highlights the importance of local context for resistance.
Markus Kröger is an Associate Professor of Global Development Studies at the University of Helsinki and a research fellow at the Academy of Finland. Alf Nilsen is professor of sociology at the University of Pretoria and a scholar of social movements, political economy, and global development. Sakshi Aravind is a PhD student at the University of Cambridge, working on Indigenous Environmental Justice in Australia, Brazil, and Canada.
April 8, 2021 11.00 – 12.15 EDT (UTC -4)
EXALT hosted a roundtable discussion on Global Extractivisms at the ISA Annual Convention #ISA2021. This event included a rousing discussion and exploration of global extractivisms.
The panelists study the extractive nature of renewable energy megaprojects, agroforestry, world politics, resistance to extractivisms, and data/intellectual extractivism.
Panelist in the session included:
March 26, 2021 11.00 – 12.00 EET
Contributors to EXALT gave a talk called "Our Extractive Age: Exploring Extractivisms" at HELSUS Brown Bag Lunch event hosted by Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science. The presentation was drawn from our co-authored work in chapters 1 and 9 from the forthcoming Routledge book Our Extractive Age: Expressions of Violence and Resistance, which will be published in May 2021.
Extractivism characterizes the modern era. Since the 2000s extractivisms have intensified, becoming ever-more global, propelled by land and resource rushes. Whether we realize or not, extractivisms deeply shape our experience of everyday life. We conceptualize extractivism here as, “a particular way of thinking and the properties and practices organized towards the goal of maximizing benefit through extraction, which brings in its wake violence and destruction.” On the academic front, the use of the concept of extractivism has expanded from mining to new arenas like agriculture, forestry, finance, and even the digital. This presentation provides a brief introduction to the complex web of extractivisms, where data and the digital intersect with natural resource extractivisms and provoke resistances to these processes and underlying ideological and historically-situated logics.
Bios:
Christopher Chagnon is a PhD candidate in Global Development Studies in the Political, Societal, and Regional Change Doctoral Programme (PSRC), Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki.
Francesco Durante is a PhD candidate in the Political, Societal, and Regional Change Doctoral Programme (PSRC) in affiliation with the Aleksanteri Institute and Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki.
Sophia E. Hagolani-Albov is a PhD candidate in Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies (DENVI), University of Helsinki.
Saana Hokkanen is a Graduate student in Global Development Studies, University of Helsinki.
Markus Kröger is an Associate Professor of Global Development Studies, University of Helsinki and Academy of Finland.
Will LaFleur is a PhD candidate in Global Development Studies in the Political, Societal, and Regional Change Doctoral Programme (PSRC), Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki.
The EXALT Symposium 2020 was a series of convivial online discussions stretching across three days on 21.-23. of October, 2020. The event drew together diverse critical analyses of the phenomena of global extractivisms and the myriad alternatives pursued both in theory and practice. The main aim of the Symposium was to contribute to, expand and deepen the concept of extractivism and the role of alternatives beyond the conventional usage connected to natural resources. The Symposium consisted of a main Roundtable-discussion (see recording below) with some of the world’s leading scholars working on extractivisms, followed by seven sessions (see recordings below) covering different aspects of global extractivisms and alternatives.
This event (held in 20-21. of October) was a collaboration between EXALT and two doctoral programs from the Faculty Social Sciences at the University of Helsinki to coproduce an online annual conference as a pre-conference to the EXALT Symposium 2020. EXALT's partners in the event were the doctoral programme in Social Sciences and the doctoral programme in Political, Societal and Regional Change.
Desrciption: The 7th Annual Conference for the Doctoral Programme in Social Sciences & the Doctoral Programme in Political, Societal and Regional Change explored the (de)naturalisations of extractivist practices. Extractivism refers both to material extraction of natural resources prevalent in industries such as mining and agribusiness, as well as old and new extractivist practices forming around e.g. data, cultures, knowledge, and bodies. We understand extractivism as inherently linked with the operations of capital, but also with the shaping of social processes. Our conference asked how extractive practices — and the industries and capital enacting them — are made out to be part of a naturalised and thus often invisible social order. The event also brought forth perspectives on how such naturalisations are resisted and deconstructed in diverse discourses and practices, in and beyond decolonial research and activism.
You can find the full page for the doctoral students pre-conference here.
When? Friday June 5th at 14.00-15.30 EEST
Where? Online on Zoom.
Chair: Dr. Ossi Ollinaho, Post-doctoral researcher at Development Studies, University of Helsinki, member of both EXALT and HELSUS
Speaker: Dr. Marta Conde
The earth and all of its inhabitants are on a trajectory of cascading socio-ecological crisis driven by extractivist development and growth-centered economism. Like a snake eating its own tail, our progress-orientated and human-centered civilisation is built on the premise that there are no limits to growth. But rethinking growth and the current societal realities cannot be avoided anymore. Concurrent crisis such as the Climate Emergency are showing that the we are approaching the final frontiers of capitalist development. This realisation has given rise to calls such as “degrowth” and post-extractivism.
In this online seminar EXALT and HELSUS collaborated in bringing together Degrowth and steady-state economics with post-extractivism to seek alternatives for the current crisis-prone world-system. Through inclusive discussion the aim was to explore the possibilities of building ecological and economic systems which function within the regenerative capacity of the planet, while at the same time enabling a "good life for all".
This seminar was part of a wider Global Degrowth Day organized each year to unite diverse organizations and communities, which support the idea of degrowth and want to show that “A good life for all” is possible beyond economies built on growth and consumption. The seminar was a joint venture between the EXALT initiative and the HELSUS Global South Encounters seminar series.
Bio: Marta Conde is a researcher at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona at the Department of Political and Social Sciences. She holds a degree in Agricultural Engineering (UPC), masters in Environmental Science (Birkbeck College, London) and a doctorate in Ecological Economics (UAB). Dr. Conde has previously worked as a researcher at Durham University and the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Conde's research focuses on the social reactions to the expansion of extractive industries at the commodity frontiers, where succesful contestations of the imperative of endless economic growth can have direct and positive impacts in the lives of these communities. Using political ecology, ecological economics and political economy Conde studies the the drivers, strategies and discourses of resistance movements to mining. Conde's other research interests include the interactions between science, activism and knowledge-creation by grassroots organisation, the use and expansion of the concept of environmental justice in the South and the link between resource extraction and economic growth.
The HELSUS Global South Encounters is a series of seminars and small talks intended to sharpen critical research in sustainability science. Recognizing the complexities and peculiarities of the Global South, these seminars engage mainstream sustainability science in order to transcend it, among others by decolonizing nature, economy, society and methodologies. The seminars aim to open up space to get prior feedback on a forthcoming talk, an ongoing dissertation, a draft article, and a variety of research from students at all levels, academics, and members of the general public. Encounters also welcome discussions on giving conference papers and celebrate/publicize published papers.
April 15th, at 13.00-14.30
Join the online-seminar via this link.
The Global Extractivisms and Alternatives Initiative (EXALT) is a new international network of scholars, activists, and policymakers dedicated to collaboration and knowledge creation around the pressing crises stemming from extractivist policies and practices. This Initiative draws together diverse critical analyses of the phenomena of global extractivisms and the myriad alternatives being actively pursued in both theory and practice. This presentation aims to continue the discussion around extractivism and its alternatives, by offering a discussion-opener of critical and holistic understandings of extractivism as an organizing concept, beyond the conventional usage connected to natural resources. The presentation aims to explore the concept of “extractivism” via a range of social, cultural, and ecological perspectives.
March 12, 2020
13 – 15 at the Think Corner Stage
Climate emergency is accelerating in the Arctic region at an alarming rate. It is impacting the fragile ecosystems and diverse linguistic and cultural communities. Rampant extractivism and its consequent ecological destruction are eroding nature as well as the cultural fabric of local Indigenous communities. Intensive extraction of natural resources is fueling the scramble for the Arctic and tying the area tightly to the capitalist world-system.
This panel discussion will tackle the situations of Indigenous peoples in the changing Arctic, how livelihoods have started to alter and what roles does extractivism play with its myriad of direct and indirect consequences for the well-being of the Arctic. The panel offers a forum for Indigenous representatives and researchers to offer insights on the complex entanglement of climate emergency, Indigenous peoples' sovereignty and Arctic extractivism. It also addresses the questions of future generations and the Anthropocene from the perspective of Arctic Indigenous peoples.
In the context of changing ecosystems and neocolonial practices taking place in the North, there is an urgent need for radical new governance models for the whole of Arctic. As Indigenous peoples hold environmental knowledge crucial for producing sustainable practices in the region, their knowledge is vital in creating new governance models and offering already existing examples of sustainable resource management in the Arctic.
Hanna Guttorm - Postdoctoral researcher of Indigenous Studies at the University of Helsinki, member of INEQ and HELSUS
Dmitry Arzyutov - Researcher at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm
Atte Korhola - Professor of Environmental Change at the University of Helsinki
Panel host: Pirjo Kristiina Virtanen (Indigenous Studies, University of Helsinki)
The event is co-organized by The Global Extractivisms and Alternatives Initiative (EXALT), the Indigenous Studies programme and ALL-YOUTH -research project funded by the Strategic Research Council (SRC).
January 16, 2020, 13 – 15 at the Think Corner Stage
Earth is currently facing an unprecedented climate emergency, which has arrived and is accelerating faster than most scientists expected. It is more severe than anticipated, threatening natural ecosystems and the fate of humanity. The need for deep and transformative action is urgent, and universities are in a key position to work as pioneers in sustainable climate action.
This brainstorming dialogue will feature 3 short talks (from a representative from the university management, a professor, and a student activist) and a facilitated panel discussion exploring questions such as: How could and should the University of Helsinki address the climate emergency? What can researchers, students and university governance do? What does a university as a climate actor look like?
Speakers:
University Management: Vice-Rector Tom Böhling
Professor: Dr. Barry Gills, Development Studies
Student Activist: Laura Kolehmainen, founder of Ilmastoveivi and Climate Move, student of politics and law
Facilitator: Dr. Ossi Ollinaho, HELSUS and EXALT
The aim of the event is to offer a forum to discuss and reflect on the university's own position as part of a currently unsustainable society, but also to tap into its potential in countering the climate emergency and finding solutions toward a sustainable future with a focus on developing the basis for concrete proposals for action by the University.
The event is co-organized by The Global Extractivisms and Alternatives Initiative (EXALT) and the Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS).
The event at the Think Corner stage is open for all with no registration. If you are planning to join us from 15 – 16 for Coffee/Conversation at the HELSUS Hub Lounge (Porthania 2nd floor, Yliopistonkatu 3), please fill in this e-lomake to let us know. We ask for registration so we can order an appropriate amount of coffee and reduce any potential waste.
We hope to see you on January 16 to discuss this important and timely topic!