1/3 Extractivism and Performance

The first seminar of the "Latin America is Moving" participatory online seminar series on the 18th of February (5 pm UK) explored activism against Extractive Industries and Performance Activism. Our guests spoke about Latin American social movements and the pandemic, narratives of opposition to extractive industries, and the relationship between politics and performance in feminist activism and Hip Hop.

The keynote was given by Tom Gatehouse with the paper entitled "Latin America at a Turning Point: a look back at two tumultuous years." Tom's presentation opened up the session on extractivism, and his keynote was followed by the presentation of Sue Branford that questioned whether sustainable mining is possible. The audience was separated into breakout rooms to discuss questions posed by the presenters.

The second section of the evening focused on performance activism and started with the presentation of Camila Gonzales Ortiz: "Performing Anger in Las Tesis's A Rapist in Your Path", followed by a lively intervention by Louise Morris and the Hip Hop artist Nakury. The audience was separated again to deliberate on the question posed by the presenters. The chair of the event was Paula Serafini.

Chair's Bio:

Paula Serafini from the CAMEo Research Institute at the University of Leicester. She is the author of the monograph Performance Action: The Politics of Art Activism. She is also the editor of the books Arte y Ecología Política and Art, Labour and Activism.

Latin America at a Turning Point: a look back at two tumultuous years

ABSTRACT by Tom Gatehouse:

While mining has long been a major industry in Latin America, it has seen unprecedented growth in recent decades. But as the industry has proliferated, so has the number of socioenvironmental conflicts associated with it. Communities located close to major mining operations consistently report a host of negative impacts, including water shortages; pollution of local environments; and destruction of traditional livelihoods, among others. And the debate around mining is becoming ever more urgent in the context of the climate crisis. Latin America is rich in metals such as copper, lithium and coltan, which are used in a wide range of green technologies such as solar panels, wind turbines and electric vehicles. However, demand for these metals risks heaping yet more pressure on communities, while deepening our dependence on an industry that already accounts for over a quarter of global CO2 emissions as well as significant biodiversity loss.

This paper is based on primary research with communities affected by mining operations in Argentina, Chile and Brazil, carried out for a forthcoming book by Latin American Bureau (LAB) entitled The Heart of Our Earth: Community Resistance to Mining in Latin America.

As well as discussing the issues laid out above, I would like to invite reflection on the following questions:

What can rural communities in Latin America do to resist the advance of major extractive or infrastructure projects, such as mines, hydroelectric dams or road building projects? And why are some communities more successful than others in doing so?

Bio: Tom Gatehouse is a writer, editor and translator, editor of Latin America Bureau’s Voices of Latin America and translator of Bernardo Kucinski’s novel The Past is an Imperfect Tense. Currently, he is working on a new title for LAB, The Heart of Our Earth: Community Resistance to Mining in Latin America.

Is sustainable mining possible? A contrast between an old-style and a new style bauxite mine in the Brazilian Amazon

Abstract by Sue Branford:

Since the 1970s multinational companies have been mining bauxite and, somewhat later, producing alumina and aluminium in the Amazonian state of Pará. The environmental and social consequences for the riverine and quilombola communities living near the mines and the smelters have been severe. In a few cases communities have organised successfully and, against the odds, received compensation for the impacts they have received.

President Bolsonaro now wants to permit mining on indigenous land, where it is currently banned. So the experience of these riverine and quilombola communities may be a harbinger of what lies ahead for the indigenous communities. Earlier this year, Alicia Bárcena, the head of CEPAL (the Economic Commission for Latin America) said, rather surprisingly, that: extractivism, or the exploitation of raw materials, no longer works as a model of economic development, as it "concentrates income ".

Question Sue posed to the audience:

Is it possible to reconcile large corporate mining projects in the Amazon with environmental and social sustainability?

Bio: Sue Branford has been a journalist for many decades. She began her career, working as a correspondent for the Financial Times in Brazil in the 1970s in the middle of the military dictatorship. She returned to the UK in the 1980s and worked for many years for the BBC World Service. She currently works as a free-lance for the US socio-environmental news agency, Mongabay, and has undertaken five reporting trips for them in the Brazilian Amazon over the last four years.

The power of Hip Hop in protest with Nakury

Latin America is Moving Seminar Series 1/3 Extractivism & Performance session finished with the powerful message given by the Costa Rican Hip Hop Artist Nakury, interviewed by Louise Morris from Latin America Bureau.

Nakury is a Rap Artist and a communicator, culture manager, and organiser from Turrialba, Costa Rica. She is the founder of Union Break which promotes Hip Hop culture in Central America. Her albums include “Rima Que Llumina” , “VIA” and “O” and they have been presented in several countries in the Americas and Europe.

Louise Morris is a journalist, audio and TV producer, having mainly produced and presented arts and factual documentaries for BBC Radio 4 and in TV produced on a live daily news show. She is a Trustee and council member of LAB and wrote the chapters on women's rights and cultural resistance in LAB's book Voices of Latin America.

Louise asked the audience: How important is the role of musicians as social organisers in Latin America?