Extraction The Frontiers of Green Capitalism

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By: Thea Riofrancos(Author)

320 pages

Publisher: Icon Books

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ISBN: 9781837732692 Hardback Sep 2025 Not in stock: Usually dispatched within 1-2 weeks
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About this book

An in-depth investigation into the growing industry of green technologies and the environmental, social, and political consequences of the mining it requires.

In the fight against climate change, lithium's role in reducing emissions by powering green economies is a mixed blessing. Drawing on groundbreaking fieldwork in Chile, Nevada, and Portugal, Thea Riofrancos explores the environmental and social costs of the global race to expand lithium mining amid supply chain concerns. With haunting descriptions of vulnerable ecosystems, she examines how mining harms landscapes, provokes protest, takes center stage in national politics, and links countries on the peripheries of the world economy to huge corporations, commodity markets, and powerful investors. Riofrancos traces the history of global extraction from colonial conquest to the 1970s energy crisis to the still-uncertain green future.

While an unregulated mining boom could inflict irreversible harm, Riofrancos offers compelling ideas about how to harmonize climate action with social justice. Across the world's extractive frontiers, we encounter the most brutal aspects of capitalism – but also witness inspiring visions for our planetary future.

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Biography

Thea Riofrancos has been featured in Granta, the Guardian, the New York Times and the Washington Post. She is a political science professor at Providence College, and a strategic codirector of the Climate and Community Institute. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

New

By: Thea Riofrancos(Author)

320 pages

Publisher: Icon Books

Media reviews

"Dazzling in the bold questions it asks and its beautifully, compellingly written answers, Extraction reminds us that the transition to an economy free from fossil fuels still allows for the endurance of extractivism. To disrupt these rapacious continuities, we need Riofrancos's rigorous research, searching interrogation, and honest reflection. An immense contribution."
– Naomi Klein, author of Doppelganger and The Shock Doctrine

"Honest, clear-eyed, challenging, this essential book is an antidote to naivety and ignorance but not to hope."
– Adam Tooze, author of Crashed

"An unflinching journey into the gritty details of the burgeoning green economy – rigorous and fun to read. You'll never look at an electric car the same way."
– Malcolm Harris, author of Palo Alto: a History of California, Capitalism, and the World

"In clear and page-turning prose, Riofrancos brings to life the rush for lithium and other minerals crucial to batteries, windmills, and solar panels and what it means for the many lands and peoples caught up in this historic transformation."
– J. R. McNeill, author of The Human Web

"An urgent wakeup call, and a hopeful, beautifully written book that is necessary reading for all in search of paths to a more just and truly sustainable future."
– Isabella M. Weber, author of How China Escaped Shock Therapy

"Indispensable, deeply researched, compellingly argued, and beautifully written. Not just an expose of exploitation but an inspiration, pointing the way to what a truly just sustainable global economy could look like."
– Greg Grandin, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The End of the Myth

"With a steadfast commitment to justice in our environmental century, Riofrancos's incisive work seeks answers in commandeered mountains and salt flats, the closed-door labs and boardrooms where truth is buried and profits are mined, and the distant homes of those who endure the consequences – and rise in resistance. At its core, this book delivers a powerful message: stop whitewashing the green economy."
– Jack Davis, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Gulf