Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism

Thea Riofrancos
Professor of Political Science, Providence College
Strategic Co-director, Climate and Community Institute
Fellow, Transnational Institute

Will green capitalism save us from the climate crisis? Clean technologies and renewable energy are attracting major investment, but the supply chains behind them raise difficult questions. This lecture explores those challenges through the lens of lithium, a “critical mineral” essential to electric vehicles and the decarbonization of transportation.

As demand for lithium surges, governments and corporations are racing to secure supplies, resource-rich countries are seeking sustainable and sovereign development, and environmental and Indigenous movements are resisting the rapid expansion of mining. By examining these competing forces, the lecture asks how the energy transition will be shaped – and whether a less mining-intensive path to zero-carbon transportation is possible.

Cosponsored with the Notre Dame Environmental Humanities Initiative.

Thea Riofrancos is professor of political science at Providence College, a strategic co-director of the Climate and Community Institute, a fellow at the Transnational Institute, and a former Kellogg visiting fellow (2014-15). She holds a PhD in political science from the University of Pennsylvania and studies resource extraction, climate change, the energy transition, green technologies, social movements, and the Latin American left.