The Political Ecology of Bolivia’s State-Led Lithium Industrialization for Post-Carbon Futures

Abstract

Discourses on sustainable development seldom question the mode of production behind so-called green technologies. Yet so long as these technologies are developed under a capitalist framework, they too will necessitate the cheapening of nature and labor. The socio-ecological costs of development in the Global North have long been borne by the Global South, and the production of green technologies risks reproducing this pattern. To critically engage with these dynamics, we use a political ecology framework to analyze lithium extraction in Bolivia. Supported by interviews with experts on Bolivian lithium extraction, we consider: (1) the anticipated socio-ecological impacts of lithium extraction; (2) the political economy of contemporary Bolivia; and (3) the governance/politics of lithium extraction at the local and global levels. The Bolivian state’s effort to exercise its sovereignty and develop its economy through “100% state-led lithium industrialization” risks re-inscribing Bolivia’s subordinate position in the world-system. Given the anticipated ecological impacts and unequal revenue distribution, local communities may be on the verge of accumulation by dispossession.