James Blair

Lithium is considered a critical material for the energy transition as a key ingredient in electric vehicle batteries. However, lithium mining has been under intense scrutiny due to debates over water depletion and Indigenous rights. This award supports ethnographic field research focused on the climate justice impacts of lithium mining on water and society. This research examines under what conditions local communities can protect water from impacts of lithium mining when energy and extraction are considered clean and green forms of global climate change mitigation. Two summers of funding will support engaged research with an Indigenous community in proximity to a key lithium extraction site in Argentina. Taking an anthropological approach to analyze the relationship between green extractivism and hydrosocial territories in the transition away from fossil fuels, this ethnographic research will examine the world that lies between clean and green, with a particular focus on the climate justice impacts of lithium mining. It uses qualitative research methods, including participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis to investigate perspectives of extractive industry project proponents and their critics, local experiences of drought accelerated by industrial expansion of lithium extraction, and climate justice movements to protect water and defend life over lithium.