"Green are fields, not mines": the case of lithium mining and resistance in Serbia

Thesis

This research is concerned with the emerging lithium extractivist frontier in Serbia. In 2004, a new mineral jadarite was discovered by the multinational mining company Rio Tinto, and it was found to be unusually rich in lithium and boron. Since then, more lithium deposits have been discovered in Serbia, with companies seeking to extract the element that is one of the essential components for batteries in electric vehicles (EVs) as well as for renewable energy storage. It is thus central to the electrification of the transport and energy systems and for the green transition more broadly. The Jadar Project, led by Rio Tinto, was set to become the biggest lithium mine in Europe, with the planned start of construction in early 2022. Nevertheless, the project drew widespread resistance from locals, with escalating protests and thousands of people blocking roads towards the end of 2021, ultimately leading to the official cancellation of the lithium mining project in January 2022. Through ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth interviews, this research examines the attitudes of locals and activists to lithium mining in Serbia. With a particular focus on the materiality of lithium as a “green” element, the spatiality of Serbia as a European periphery and the temporality of the Anthropocene as a state of emergency, this research seeks to address the largely neglected forms of harm that the global demand for lithium holds. The lithium mining initiatives in Serbia thus become key sites of contestation of what a sustainable future holds and present a fundamental challenge to the hegemonic view on sustainability that is based on mining and extractivism.

Authors: Djukanovic, N

• Type of award: MPhil
• Level of award: Masters
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: activism; electric vehicles; extractivism; Serbia; environmental justice; Balkans; sustainability; lithium
• Subjects: Environmental policy