This is the introduction to a special issue of Political Geography: Engineering extraction and land control: Examining political (re)actions 'from above' (J. Verweijen & A. Dunlap, convenors)
Abstract
Ecological catastrophe and global inequality are pressing, yet socio-ecologically destructive natural resource extraction continues unabated. This special issue explores the strategies and tactics employed by large-scale mining and energy companies to render extraction socio-politically feasible in the face of multi-pronged opposition. Extraction, we contend, does not only need physical engineering, but requires social engineering as well. This entails shaping the behavior of people to ‘manage’ dissent and ‘manufacture’ consent. Situating the social engineering of extraction in key debates in the literature, this special issue introduction traces the evolution of its main technologies and techniques, related to colonialism, wars of decolonization, neoliberalism and the ‘green’ economy, respectively. We conclude by outlining a number of ways to advance research on the social engineering of extraction.
Authors
Judith Verweijen and Alexander Dunlap
Alexander Antony Dunlap was Postdoctoral Fellow at Centre for Development and the Environment, 2019-2023.
