Over the past two decades, the extraction of nonrenewable resources in Latin America has given rise to many forms of struggle, particularly among disadvantaged populations. The first analytical collection to combine geographical and political ecological approaches to the post-1990s changes in Latin America's extractive economy, Subterranean Struggles closely examines the factors driving this expansion and the sociopolitical, environmental, and political economic consequences it has wrought. In this analysis, more than a dozen experts explore the many facets of struggles surrounding extraction, from protests in the vicinity of extractive operations to the everyday efforts of excluded residents who try to adapt their livelihoods while industries profoundly impact their lived spaces. The book explores the implications of extractive industry for ideas of nature, region, and nation; "resource nationalism" and environmental governance; conservation, territory, and indigenous livelihoods in the Amazon and Andes; everyday life and livelihood in areas affected by small- and large-scale mining alike; and overall patterns of social mobilization across the region. Arguing that such struggles are an integral part of the new extractive economy in Latin America, the authors document the increasingly conflictive character of these interactions, raising important challenges for theory, for policy, and for social research methodologies. Featuring works by social and natural science authors, this collection offers a broad synthesis of the dynamics of extractive industry whose relevance stretches to regions beyond Latin America.

About the Author

Anthony Bebbington is Director of the Graduate School of Geography at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Jeffrey Bury is Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Reviews
If, as the conclusion states, "history and memory are again central to how people make sense of contemporary extraction" (p. 271), we owe the editors and contributors our gratitude for making sure that history is told in a manner as scholastically rigorous, and conceptually cogent, as possible. * Journal of Latin American Geography *
Overall this book is an excellent contribution to the literature . . . it contributes to understanding the contentious and complex processes that entails the pursuit of development in the region. * Journal of Human Development and Capabilities *



Book Information
ISBN 9781477302064
Author Anthony Bebbington
Format Paperback
Page Count 361
Imprint University of Texas Press
Publisher University of Texas Press
Weight(grams) 454g