Name of the project: Environmental (In)justice: Project Jadar and Lithium Frenzy
Project duration: January 2025- December 2025
Donor: Heinrich Böll Foundation
Framework: CHCI Initiatives: Global Justice and Humanities Practices
Researchers: Dr Zoran Erić, Dr Olga Nikolić, Dr Aleksandar Pavlović, Dr Aleksandra Bulatović
The project “Environmental (In)justice: Project Jadar and Lithium Frenzy” examined Serbia’s controversial Jadar Project as a case study, exemplifying the intersection of lithium extraction with issues such as ecological degradation, community displacement, and undemocratic governance.
The project combined academic research, international collaboration, and public engagement through two key activities: an internal research workshop at the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory (University of Belgrade) and an international webinar bringing together scholars from Serbia and countries facing comparable lithium mining projects, including Chile, Argentina, Portugal, and Germany. These events enabled comparative analysis of extractivist policies, governance frameworks, and forms of civic resistance, while situating the Jadar project within broader global patterns of environmental injustice
A central outcome of the project is the published bilingual digital edited volume (Serbian and English), which brings together revised contributions emerging from both workshops. This publication is an accessible, interdisciplinary resource that critically examines lithium extraction from philosophical, political, social, and environmental perspectives. By juxtaposing international case studies with analyses of the Jadar project, the collection demonstrates that lithium mining-related injustices are not isolated phenomena but structurally embedded in global extractivist and neo-colonial logics.
The publication is freely accessible online through the websites of CHCI and the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, making it accessible to researchers, activists, policymakers, educators, and affected communities. Ultimately, the project contributes to critical rethinking of resource governance, opening pathways toward more democratic, participatory, and environmentally just futures.