Udvindingsindustri

Through diverse engagements with natural resource extraction and ecological vulnerability in the contemporary Arctic, contributors to this volume apprehend Arctic resource regimes through the concept of abstraction. Abstraction refers to the creation of new material substances and cultural values by detaching parts from existing substances and values. The abstractive process differs from the activity of extractive industries by its focus on the conceptual resources that conceal processes of exploitation associated with extraction. The study of abstraction can thus help us attune to the formal operations that make appropriations of value possible while disclosing the politics of extraction and of its representation.

Resource extraction exists in diverse settings across the world and is carried out through different practices. The Global Life of Mines provides a comprehensive framework examining the spatial and temporal relationships between mining and postmining as interrelated and coexisting features within the global minescape. The book brings together scholars from various fields, such as anthropology, geography, sociology and political science, examining ethnographic case studies throughout the Americas (Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, USA), Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Europe (Italy, Arctic Norway and Spain).

Extractivism refers to the process of extracting natural resources from the earth in order to sell them in the global market. It exists in an economy which is based significantly on the removal or extraction of natural resources that are deemed valuable for exportation across the globe. Oil, gold, lumber and diamonds are some examples of resources acquired through extraction. It has emerged as a promising pathway for development following the neoliberal economic transitions. This progress becomes possible by attracting foreign direct investment and stabilizing growth rates. There are several environmental concerns of extractivism such as deforestation, dwindling biodiversity, climate change, loss of food sovereignty, contamination of freshwater and soil depletion. There are also some political and social consequences associated with it such as unbalanced wealth distribution and conflict, human rights violations, and hazardous labor conditions, which result in an imbalance in power and culture. This book unravels the recent studies on extractivism as well as its relationship to culture and power. The readers would gain knowledge that would broaden their perspective about this subject.