BIGSAS Lecture - Understanding the Meaning of “Extractive Bargains” and its Implications for Global Extractivism and Post-Extractivism

Prof. Dr Nathan Andrews McMaster University, Canada

THURSDAY, 30.01.2025
S58, RW1 
16:45/17:00

ABSTRACT

Natural resource extraction has come under increasing scrutiny especially within the context of factors such climate change, environmental degradation, rampant socio-economic inequalities, and an increased recognition of Indigenous rights. This is in addition to research that questions the optimism surrounding resource abundance as an economic advantage or strategy. In response, states have sought to justify ongoing extractive activities by appealing to their ability to support other goals such as climate change mitigation, social equity and economic development. This process of justifying a state’s preferred extractive policies in exchange for delivering on wider societal goals is what will be discussed in this talk as “extractive bargains.” The talk will examine the different kinds of justifications and dilemmas that make up these bargains and provide some case studies from the Global South and Global North to illustrate specific examples. It will also reflect on the implications of these justifications and dilemmas for governance and sustainable livelihoods.

BACKROUND

Nathan Andrews is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at McMaster University. He is currently affiliated with the German Institute for Global and Area Studies as an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow and is also a new member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of Scholars, Artists and Scientists. A core aspect of Dr. Andrews’ research focuses on the global political economy/ecology of natural resource extraction and development. Publications on this topic have appeared in journals such as International Affairs, Resources Policy, World Development, Energy Research & Social Science, Business & Society Review, Extractive Industries & Society, and Globalizations. Dr. Andrews’ latest books include a monograph, Gold Mining and the Discourses of Corporate Social Responsibility in Ghana (Palgrave, 2019), a co-authored monograph, Oil and Development in Ghana: Beyond the Resource Curse (Routledge, 2021), and co-edited books, Extractive Bargains: Natural Resources and the State-Society Nexus (Palgrave, 2023) and Natural Resource-Based Development in Africa: Panacea or Pandora’s Box? (University of Toronto Press, 2022). He has years of consulting experience with organizations such as African Development Bank, International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva Centre for Security Governance and the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation of Northern British Columbia.