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Subsoil mediations: Strategies of contention at the grassroots and the extraction of subsoil resources

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  • Dueholm Rasch, Elisabet

Abstract

In this working paper, I argue that the ways in which communities engage in strategies of contention are mediated by what I call 'subsoil imaginaries': how peoples and communities imagine and give meaning to the subsoil and its extraction. In so doing, I approach the subsoil as a site on and through which strategies of contention gain form and content, and at the same time as a resource that is produced through such (political) discursive and practical activities. It is on this site that this paper explores strategies of contention as a negotiation of rights between political subjects and the state that is mediated by subsoil imaginaries. Strategies of contention are mediated by subsoil imaginations in two dimensions. First, conflicts and contestations over resource use are often rooted in different ideas and imaginaries of resource use and the subsoil. Natural resources can be valued as indigenous territory, as a part of livelihood, in terms of biodiversity, and as combinations thereof. Such meanings clash with the monetary valuations on which most extractive projects are based. Second, extractive projects cause conflicts over distribution, as well as over recognition and participation; it is not only about the environmental consequences of subsoil extraction but also (if not foremost) about power, democracy and citizenship. These claims of social justice, as I will show, are also shaped by imaginaries of the subsoil. The paper builds on research on resistance, citizenship and subsoil extraction since 2010 in Latin America, the Philippines and the Netherlands.

Suggested Citation

  • Dueholm Rasch, Elisabet, 2019. "Subsoil mediations: Strategies of contention at the grassroots and the extraction of subsoil resources," GLOCON Working Paper Series 11, Freie Universität Berlin, Junior Research Group "Global Change – Local Conflicts?" (GLOCON).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:glocon:11
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Rasch, Elisabet Dueholm & Köhne, Michiel, 2017. "Practices and imaginations of energy justice in transition. A case study of the Noordoostpolder, the Netherlands," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 607-614.
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    4. Anthony Bebbington & Leonith Hinojosa & Denise Humphreys Bebbington & Maria Luisa Burneo & Ximena Warnaars, 2008. "Contention and Ambiguity: Mining and the Possibilities of Development," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 5708, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    5. Costanza, Jennifer Noel, 2016. "Mining Conflict and the Politics of Obtaining a Social License: Insight from Guatemala," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 97-113.
    6. Joan Martínez Alier, 2001. "Environmental Conflicts, Environmental Justice, and Valuation," UHE Working papers 2001_03, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Departament d'Economia i Història Econòmica, Unitat d'Història Econòmica.
    7. Bebbington, Anthony & Humphreys Bebbington, Denise & Bury, Jeffrey & Lingan, Jeannet & Muñoz, Juan Pablo & Scurrah, Martin, 2008. "Mining and Social Movements: Struggles Over Livelihood and Rural Territorial Development in the Andes," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 2888-2905, December.
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    Keywords

    subsoil extraction; knowledge; repertoires of contention; imaginaries; Untergrundgewinnung; Wissen; Strategien der Auseinandersetzung; Vorstellungen; Katasterkartierung;
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