Overview

In the fight against climate change, lithium’s role in reducing emissions by powering green economies is a mixed blessing. Drawing on ground-breaking fieldwork in Chile, Nevada and Portugal, Thea Riofrancos explores the environmental and social costs of the global race to expand lithium mining amid supply chain concerns. Tracing the history of global extraction, Riofrancos examines how mining harms landscapes, provokes protest, takes centre stage in national politics and links small countries to huge corporations, commodity markets and powerful investors. While an unregulated mining boom could inflict irreversible harm, Riofrancos offers compelling ideas about how to harmonise climate action with social justice. Across the world’s extractive frontiers, we encounter the most brutal aspects of capitalism—but also witness inspiring visions for our planetary future

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9781324036760

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Reviews

An unflinching journey into the gritty details of the burgeoning green economy -- rigorous and fun to read. You'll never look at an electric car the same way.--Malcom Harris, author of Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World In the 21st century, the effort to decarbonize the global energy system has become urgent. In clear and page-turning prose, Thea Riofrancos brings to life the rush for lithium and other minerals crucial to batteries, windmills, and solar panels and what it means for the many lands and peoples caught up in this historic transformation.--J. R. McNeill, author of The Human Web and The Great Acceleration

There are social and ecological downsides to even the most necessary transformations... This is a vivid and bracing tour of the ruptures and conflicts to come.--David Wallace-Wells, author of The Uninhabitable Earth Engagingly written and meticulously researched, its combination of history, politics, and economics promises to challenge easy answers on climate, no matter where on the political spectrum they come from. A must read.--Olúfemi O. Táíwò, author of Reconsidering Reparations With a steadfast commitment to justice in our environmental century, Riofrancos's incisive work seeks answers in commandeered mountains and salt flats, the closed-door labs and boardrooms where truth is buried and profits are mined, and the distant homes of those who endure the consequences--and rise in resistance. At its core, this book delivers a powerful message: stop whitewashing the green economy.--Jack E. Davis, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Gulf An unflinching journey into the gritty details of the burgeoning green economy -- rigorous and fun to read. You'll never look at an electric car the same way.--Malcom Harris, author of Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World In the 21st century, the effort to decarbonize the global energy system has become urgent. In clear and page-turning prose, Thea Riofrancos brings to life the rush for lithium and other minerals crucial to batteries, windmills, and solar panels and what it means for the many lands and peoples caught up in this historic transformation.--J. R. McNeill, author of The Human Web and The Great Acceleration Honest, clear-eyed, and meticulously tracing every link in the global supply chain, Thea Riofrancos has written an essential book on extraction, critical minerals, and green capitalism. Extraction is a book for our moment, an antidote to naivety and ignorance but not to hope.--Adam Tooze, author of Crashed An urgent wake-up call, Extraction is a journey through the contradictions of a green transition that relies on environmentally harmful mining that reproduces old inequalities along new supply chains. But it is also a hopeful, beautifully written book full of visions for alternatives, necessary reading for all in search of paths to a more just and truly sustainable future.--Isabella M. Weber, author of How China Escaped Shock Therapy Dazzling in the bold questions it asks and its beautifully, compellingly written answers, Extraction reminds us that the transition to an economy free from fossil fuels still allows for the endurance of extractivism. To disrupt these rapacious continuities, we need Riofrancos's rigorous research, searching interrogation, and honest reflection. An immense contribution.--Naomi Klein, New York Times bestselling author of The Shock Doctrine and This Changes Everything Thea Riofrancos' Extraction is indispensable, deeply researched, compellingly argued, and beautifully written. Not just an exposé of exploitation but an inspiration, pointing the way to what a truly just sustainable global economy could look like.--Greg Grandin, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The End of the Myth

[Riofrancos] situates the energy transition from fossil fuels to electrification in the context of the long history of colonization, decolonization, the 1970s energy crisis, the 2008 financial crisis, and escalating US-China tensions. By visiting these extractive frontiers, she argues quite persuasively that energy production is a portal connecting the past and possible future of global capitalism.--Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins ""The Nation"" A well-researched look at global needs and wants, in conflict with local rights.-- ""Kirkus"" Lithium and other critical minerals are essential to the green energy transition. But mining them comes at a cost--both to the environment and to the communities that are home to them. Political scientist Thea Riofrancos, who has written on extractive capitalism and mining for FP, argues that despite this, there are ways to transform mining governance and create a truly just economy.-- ""Foreign Policy Magazine, ""FP's Books of the Summer"""" In clear and page-turning prose, Thea Riofrancos brings to life the rush for lithium and what it means for the many lands and peoples caught up in this historic transformation.--J. R. McNeill, author of The Great Acceleration Indispensable, deeply researched, compellingly argued, and beautifully written...pointing the way to what a truly just sustainable global economy could look like.--Greg Grandin, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The End of the Myth There are social and ecological downsides to even the most necessary transformations...This is a vivid and bracing tour of the ruptures and conflicts to come.--David Wallace-Wells, author of The Uninhabitable Earth An unflinching journey into the gritty details of the burgeoning green economy--rigorous and fun to read. You'll never look at an electric car the same way.--Malcolm Harris, author of What's Left An urgent wake-up call, and a hopeful, beautifully written book that is necessary reading for all in search of paths to a more just and truly sustainable future.--Isabella M. Weber, author of How China Escaped Shock Therapy Engagingly written and meticulously researched, its combination of history, politics, and economics promises to challenge easy answers on climate, no matter where on the political spectrum they come from. A must read.--Olúfémi O. Táíwò, author of Reconsidering Reparations Honest, clear-eyed, challenging, this essential book is an antidote to naivety and ignorance but not to hope.--Adam Tooze, author of Crashed With a steadfast commitment to justice in our environmental century, Thea Riofrancos's incisive work delivers a powerful message: Stop whitewashing the green economy.--Jack E. Davis, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Gulf Extraction reminds us that the transition to an economy free from fossil fuels still allows for the endurance of extractivism. To disrupt these rapacious continuities, we need Thea Riofrancos's rigorous research, searching interrogation, and honest reflection.--Naomi Klein, New York Times best-selling author of The Shock Doctrine and This Changes Everything

Author Information

Thea Riofrancos is a political science professor at Providence College, and Strategic Co-Director of the Climate and Community Institute. Her research has been featured in essays in The New York Times, The Washington Post, N+1, and The Guardian. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

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