The newly established Environmental Studies Research Group of the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory presented the publication “Lithium Mining and Environmental (In)justice” in Loznica. Introduced and moderated by Aleksandar Pavlović, the volume of texts by authors from Argentina, Chile, Portugal, Germany, and Serbia was discussed by the editors, Olga Nikolić and Zoran Erić, as well as Sara Nikolić..
In the venue “Kod Mališe,” a dialogue was opened on the prospects of lithium mining in Serbia, as well as on the possibilities for local communities, activists, and citizens to fight for environmental justice and against the Jadar project, which is currently on hold. The experiences presented by researchers from Latin America, where the world’s largest lithium reserves are located, and by citizens from the Barroso region in Portugal resisting the transformation of their land into a mine, served as examples for understanding the broader global settings of the consequences of extractivist capitalism concealed behind the “green transition” pursued by the European Union.
Based on the questions raised and the tone of the discussion, it became clear that such encounters are essential for sharing experiences and connecting Institute researchers with citizens directly threatened by the potential environmental catastrophe a mine would cause, as
well as by the destructive impacts of multinational corporations such as Rio Tinto on the local ecosystem and community relations.
