From metabolic rift to accumulation by dispossession: Lithium mining, ecological imperialism and hydric looting in the argentinean northwest

Abstract

With its epicentre in the so-called Lithium Triangle's salars, lithium is a key raw material for the contemporary capitalism. Essential to the production of rechargeable batteries -which are necessary for both restructuring automotive industry towards the electric vehicles and performing the energy transition from hydrocarbons to renewable sources-, the lithium extraction from brines is a highly hydro-intensive activity carried out in extremely arid regions. Using official data, scholar literature and corporate and journalistic reports, this paper characterizes the lithium boom in the Argentinean Northwest (provinces of Jujuy and Catamarca) and studies both the hydric consumption of such activity and the conflicts between mining companies and local communities regarding the access to water. The findings show that lithium mining operates as a mechanism of accumulation by dispossession and ecological imperialism that snatches social groups (aborigines, specially) from the water they need to survive.