What activism or resistance has been organized against the extractive project?

Background and context of the assignment
This assignment invites you to explore the relationship between natural resource extraction and impacted communities. In our effort to understand how human societies impact environments and utilize resources, we recognize that extractive activities such as mining and fossil fuel exploitation, and so on, remake landscapes and link to human livelihoods. Extractive industries have emerged as a key element of development programs across the globe. Different actors, such as mining or oil companies, governments, and local communities, have very different positions on how or even whether a particular extractive development goes forward.
Through your critical analysis of a case study in which a community is or has been in conflict with an extractive project, this assignment requires you to examine the expanding role of the exploitation of natural resources by extractive industries and the related contestations that involve populations that reside in the vicinity of proposed or existing projects.
In this assignment, you will study one such conflict and analyze it in light of relevant scholarly literature. You may be surprised by how widespread conflict is between communities and companies that seek to exploit natural resources that lie on or under lands used by those communities. The community grievances often relate to environmental impacts of the extractive activities. Scholars and civil society organizations have documented and studied hundreds of cases of conflict between industry and communities in every part of the world, and have shown that while each case is unique, there are broad patterns that link specific examples to each other. Often, the affected communities and resources are in the global south while the transnational corporations behind the extractive projects are headquartered in the global north, including in Canada.
The assignment presents you with (1) a guideline reading to assist with your analysis: A short analysis by Kathryn Furlong and Emma S. Norman (from the Wiley Blackwell Companion to Political Geography, First Edition) that discusses how geographers have approached the study of resources, particularly natural resources. A list of possible case studies is available on eClass in the “assignment 1” section. Students should inform their TAs on or any time before Tutorial 6 (October 20/21/22) regarding their choice of case study. A range of cases in each tutorial group will enrich the Week 10 findings discussions.
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Your description and critical analysis of the case study should address the following issues (one or two solid paragraphs on each point below is a good rule of thumb):
1. What was/is the nature and history of the (proposed or existing) extractive project? Who is extracting or seeking to extract what, and what makes this a (potentially) viable project?
2. What concerns or objections have been raised? By whom? Briefly describe the (potential) impacts of the extractive project.
3. What activism or resistance has been organized against the extractive project? Who is involved? Is the local community working with social movements, international organizations, or other allies? If so, how?
4. What governments (and levels of government) are involved and what role do they play in this conflict? If informative, refer to the Human Development Index of the country where the project is located and the country where the company is headquartered (more information on the HDI in Reading Resources).
5. Comment on the trustworthiness of the sources of information you have used (The PARCA test will assist you: https://spark.library.yorku.ca/wp- content/themes/glendonits-spark- 20151125/resources/PARCA%20Test_Final.pdf)
6. What does this example teach you about the relationship between natural resource extraction and affected communities? Be sure to refer to the guideline article and other relevant sources to answer this question.
Guidelines:
Your essay should begin with a thesis statement indicating your argument about the relationship between resource extraction and community. Your thesis statement tells you reader what your main argument is, and the rest of the essay provides support for your argument. This essay should be in your own words as much as possible. If quoting another author, quoting short phrases and concepts of less than ten words is fine, and remember to reference them. Make sure your essay is thoughtful, incisive, and creatively synthesizes your own research and interpretations.
The list of further reading is there to stimulate your thoughts and ideas. If you do want to add in some discussion about another case elsewhere discussed by another author, this is fine but be sparing in how you do this. The majority of the essay should be about the case study you have selected. You should conclude the essay with a paragraph that reflects on the role of extractive activities in our world and their impacts on human community.
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Format:
Your essay must be written in proper sentences and paragraphs, typed, edited, proofread, and grammatically correct. Your essay must be concise, one thousand (1000) words in length (stay within 100 words of this amount). The word length does not include the bibliography. On the first page, include the word count, your name, your student number, your TA’s name, time of tutorial, and date of submission.
Sources:
Sources may be academic or credible popular sources. You must use the guideline article by Furlong and Norman, available through York’s library as part of an e-book (see link below, chapter 31). You should have at least three sources that pertain to your specific case study. You may also use additional academic sources (see below for some suggestions).
You may use an online search engine (i.e. google) to start to identify relevant information about your case study, using relevant key words (for example, the name of the mining company, the name and location of the project, the name of the community, descriptive words such as ‘conflict’, ‘dispute’, ‘controversy’, and so forth). Read all sources sceptically, especially ones that are not peer-reviewed. See Types of Sources – Popular or Scholarly in www.yorku.ca/spark to evaluate sources.
For any source you use, including course readings, you need to provide a proper citation in the text of the essay and in the bibliography. Use APA style for this assignment. Keep in mind that citing accurately and completely adds to the value of your work. Tracing the origins of your ideas through good referencing characterizes a good assignment.
For information about citations, see:
http://www.library.yorku.ca/spark/creating_bibliographies/citation_style_citation_style .html
Academic Honesty:
Your essay must be your own individual effort, not plagiarized in any way. Your assignment will be marked only if your TA has received a signed academic integrity checklist.
Submission:
Due: By midnight on the day of your Tutorial 10 (Week of November 15) via Turnitin.
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READING RESOURCES
What follows below is a direct link to the assignment’s guideline article as well as e-links to some academic papers and short articles that deal with the topic of extractive industries and their relationship with communities.
Remember that students are expected to not only read the guideline reading (by Kathryn Furlong and Emma S. Norman) in advance of writing their assignments, but also to actively use some of its insights in their papers. In other words, the guideline reading is required reading and is to appear in every student’s bibliography. Students may also find some additional inspiration/insight from other papers and articles and some options are listed below.
Finally, remember that students are required to use at least three sources of information directly relevant to their case study and to include a brief discussion of why you chose those sources in relation to the PARCA test: https://www.library.yorku.ca/spark/books_journals_more/PARCA%20Test_Final.pdf
Guideline article (required):
Furlong, K. and Norman, E. S. (2015). Ch.31 – Resources. In J. Agnew, V. Mamadouh, A. J. Secor and J. Sharp (Eds.), The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Political Geography (pp.424-437). Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons.
Stable link to e-book through York Library system (select Ch.31): http://ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/login?url=https://www.library.yorku.ca/find/Record/3508571
Additional Readings (recommended additional sources):
Academic articles
Broad, R. and Fischer-Mackey, J. (2017). From extractivism towards buen vivir: mining policy as an indicator of a new development paradigm prioritising the environment. Third World Quarterly 38(6). http://ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/login?url=http://resolver.scholarsportal.info/resolve/01 436597/v38i0006/1327_fetbvmndppte.xml
Conde, M. and Le Billon, P. (2017). Why do some communities resist mining projects while others do not? The Extractive Industries and Society 4(3): 681-697. http://ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/login?url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/articl e/pii/S2214790X17300035
Jenkins, K. (2017). Women anti-mining activists’ narratives of everyday resistance in the Andes: staying put and carrying on in Peru and Ecuador. Gender, Place & Culture 24(10).
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http://ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/login?url=http://resolver.scholarsportal.info/resolve/09 66369x/v24i0010/1441_waanoecoipae.xml
Kaufmann, C. and Côte, M. (2021) Frames of extraction: Small-scale goldmining formalization and state violence in Colombia. Political Geography 91. November 2021. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0962629821001566
Penman, M. (2016). Ambivalent company attitudes and how they shape conflict: Mining conflicts in Mexico’s ejidos. The Extractive Industries and Society 3(3). http://ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/login?url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/articl e/pii/S2214790X16300685
Other chapters in The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Political Geography
This book includes chapters on more than two-dozen geographical topics that may be relevant to your case study (see link above).
Online sources, reports, etc.
Imai, Shin and Gardner, Leah and Weinberger, Sarah, The ‘Canada Brand’: Violence and Canadian Mining Companies in Latin America (December 1, 2017). Osgoode Legal Studies Research Paper No. 17/2017. http://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1272&context=all _papers
Environmental Justice – A research project to study and contribute to the global environmental justice movement.
See interactive map for data on many cases
http://www.envjustice.org/
Mining Watch Canada publications
MWC is a Canadian initiative that seeks to change public policy and mining practices to ensure the health of individuals, communities, and ecosystems. https://miningwatch.ca/publications
UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/un-guiding-principles
Human Development Index
See this link for a description of this index: http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/human- development-index-hdi. If you click on country profiles, you can find more detailed measures for each country.
Argentina
Ø El Desquite mine (Esquel) Ø Alumbrera mine
Ø Veladero mine
Bolivia
Ø Proposed lithium mining in Uyuni salt flat Brazil
Ø Morro do Ouro mine
Ø Belo Sun Mining Corp and Volta Grande mine
Ø Brumadinho mine
Chile
Ø Mapuche resistance to commercial forestry
Ø Pascua Lama Colombia
Ø Marmato mine
Ø Eco Oro (formerly Greystar Resources) – Angostura mine (Santurbán) Ø Soto Norte (Minesa)
Ø Cerro Matoso
Ø ConocoPhillips (fracking)
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Ø Gran Tierra (Putumayo region) Costa Rica
Ø Infinito Gold – Crucita mine Dominican Republic
Ø Pueblo Viejo Mine Ecuador
Ø Mirador project
Ø Fruta del Norte (Lundin)
Ø INV Metals (formerly IAMGOLD) Ø Lago Agrio oil field (Chevron)
El Salvador
Ø El Dorado mine – Pacific Rim Guatemala
Ø Fenix mine Ø Marlin mine Ø Escobal mine
Honduras
Ø San Andrés mine (Aura Minerals) Mexico
Ø Blackfire (case of Mariano Abarca) Peru
Ø Constancia mine
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Ø La Rinconada North America Canada
Ø Kiggavik uranium project
Ø Frontier Oil Sands Mine United States
Ø Dakota Access Pipeline Sub-Saharan
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ø Banro Eritrea
Ø Nevsun (Bisha mining region) Ghana
Ø Obuasi Mine Guinea
Ø Simandou mine (Rio Tinto) South Africa
Ø Marikana
Tanzania
Ø North Mara mine
Ø Bulyanhulu gold mine
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Ø Geita gold mine Zambia
Ø Mopani copper mines (Glencore)
Middle East, Europe, Asia
Turkey
Ø Alamos Gold (Kirazli project) Greece
Ø Eldorado Gold (Skouries project) Armenia
Ø Amulsar project (Lydian International) Indonesia
Ø Grasberg mine
Ø Palm Oil in Kalimantan Kyrgyzstan
Ø Kumtor mine Mongolia
Ø Oyu Tolgoi mine Papua New Guinea
Ø Porgera mine
Ø Panguna mine (Bougainville) Ø Ok Tedi mine
Philippines
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Ø Marcopper mines Ø TVI Pacific
Ø Didipio mine
If you would like to examine a case study that is not on this list

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