Extractive dreams: unearthing consent, development, and lithium in Bolivia.

• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/D20222630

As progressive governments throughout Latin America have increased their dependence on natural resource extraction, the debate around extraction-based development, referred to in its current form as neo-extractivism, has been reinvigorated. While the neo-extractive literature has carried the debates well beyond the static nature of the resource curse, adequate attention has not yet been given to the experiences and dynamics that fall outside the dominant framings of mobilized resistance and conflict. Much of the current scholarship focuses on the various processes that disrupt or are challenged by extraction, but overlooked by these studies are the mechanisms and dynamics that perpetuate underlying patterns of extraction. I pursue the following questions of why, despite historical failures and recurrent conflicts associated with extraction-based development, does extraction continue to be perceived as a legitimate means for positive development? And, consequently, how does this support for extraction impact the development trajectories of Bolivia?