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Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism
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.
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.
288 pages, Hardcover
Published September 23, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 30, 2025
what is called green capitalism is just a continuation of the logic of exploitation but with the rhetoric of green technology. in this book the author shows how the same logical exploiting the land and it's resources while degrading the conditions of life for native people is shaping the world but using green technologies to wash the blood of its hands.
Also, in the last part of the book Thea Riofrancos asks an interesting question. what's the best way to go green at all? is it good enough to replace all the regular cars with electric ones or we can do better? she finds out that there is a better way to go green. not just replacing every fossil fuel energy source with an electric one (this needs a huge amount of mining and resources which is catastrophic for ecosystems, people who live in the mining areas and countries and to the whole planet). instead we can implement policies to reduce the need for consumption and waste. maybe by expanding public transit or by reducing the amount of unnecessary activities in the society which has usually been justified in the name of economic growth. this will reduce the need for mining ever more and more materials and can help us go green much much faster while also improving the conditions of Life for billions of people.
the book also gives an overview of the historical struggle between countries of what is called the global south (but not just them) with big corporations and extractive powers of the north.
Also, in the last part of the book Thea Riofrancos asks an interesting question. what's the best way to go green at all? is it good enough to replace all the regular cars with electric ones or we can do better? she finds out that there is a better way to go green. not just replacing every fossil fuel energy source with an electric one (this needs a huge amount of mining and resources which is catastrophic for ecosystems, people who live in the mining areas and countries and to the whole planet). instead we can implement policies to reduce the need for consumption and waste. maybe by expanding public transit or by reducing the amount of unnecessary activities in the society which has usually been justified in the name of economic growth. this will reduce the need for mining ever more and more materials and can help us go green much much faster while also improving the conditions of Life for billions of people.
the book also gives an overview of the historical struggle between countries of what is called the global south (but not just them) with big corporations and extractive powers of the north.
December 1, 2025
Hopefully a circular economy can come to fruition, unlike fossil fuels these materials aren’t a use once scenario.
December 21, 2025
3.5 stars. Lots of good information and I learned a lot. However, the scope of the book is rather narrow. She focuses a lot on Chile, and much more briefly mentions the US and Portugal. Focused on lithium solely and mostly in relation to passenger EV battery production. Could have used another go around with an editor, as well.
January 31, 2026
In Extraction, Thea Riofrancos offers a politically grounded account of how extraction is being reconfigured in the name of the green transition. The book centres the growing demand for minerals such as lithium and shows how this demand is justified through narratives of sustainability and necessity. Extraction appears as a defining feature of the present shaped by power and inequality, and as always, competing claims over land and water, rather than as a temporary phase on the path to decarbonisation.
A major strength of the book lies in its methodology. Extraction is built on extensive empirical research that brings together interviews with policymakers, industry actors, and communities, activists alongside close engagement with policy documents and corporate sustainability claims. This approach allows Riofrancos to trace how extractive projects are made politically acceptable and how environmental responsibility is performed through language and through chosen metrics.
The chapter “A Return to Resource Nationalism” grounds these arguments through the case of lithium extraction in Chile. Riofrancos frames mining here as a genuine dilemma. Contemporary economies depend on extraction even as it produces ecological damage and social harm that cannot be resolved through better management alone. Chile’s national lithium strategy, introduced under President Gabriel Boric, is presented as an attempt to navigate this dilemma politically. The strategy included commitments to protect 30 per cent of the country’s salt flats and to involve Indigenous peoples and frontline communities in decisions affecting their territories. Riofrancos treats this intervention seriously while remaining attentive to its limits. Increased state involvement reshapes the governance of extraction, yet it does not fundamentally alter the extractive logic that continues to structure lithium production.
One of the most compelling sections of Extraction is its analysis of corporate sustainability narratives. In the Chile, Riofrancos documents how lithium executives justify extraction by drawing a sharp distinction between freshwater and brine. Because extraction targets brine, these practices are framed as environmentally sustainable. Brine supports life and forms an integral part of salt-flat ecosystems, much like saline environments found elsewhere in the biosphere. The book easily dismantles this claim by foregrounding the ecological role of brine itself (as with many other myths). Treating brine as expendable allows ecological harm to be obscured through claims of green responsibility.
For me, the most significant takeaway lies in its questioning of the assumptions that underpin projected material demand. Riofrancos shows how estimates of future mining requirements are often based on models that assume a continuation of highly individualised consumption patterns, particularly the widespread adoption of personal EV's in contexts such as the US, the normative vision of mobility that reproduces car-dependent infrastructures. The book asks a different question. What would the material requirements of the green transition look like if investment were directed toward reinventing public transport rather than electrifying private cars?
Without challenging the models of consumption that drive mineral demand, efforts to green extraction risk reinforcing the inequalities and ecological pressures they claim to address.
A major strength of the book lies in its methodology. Extraction is built on extensive empirical research that brings together interviews with policymakers, industry actors, and communities, activists alongside close engagement with policy documents and corporate sustainability claims. This approach allows Riofrancos to trace how extractive projects are made politically acceptable and how environmental responsibility is performed through language and through chosen metrics.
The chapter “A Return to Resource Nationalism” grounds these arguments through the case of lithium extraction in Chile. Riofrancos frames mining here as a genuine dilemma. Contemporary economies depend on extraction even as it produces ecological damage and social harm that cannot be resolved through better management alone. Chile’s national lithium strategy, introduced under President Gabriel Boric, is presented as an attempt to navigate this dilemma politically. The strategy included commitments to protect 30 per cent of the country’s salt flats and to involve Indigenous peoples and frontline communities in decisions affecting their territories. Riofrancos treats this intervention seriously while remaining attentive to its limits. Increased state involvement reshapes the governance of extraction, yet it does not fundamentally alter the extractive logic that continues to structure lithium production.
One of the most compelling sections of Extraction is its analysis of corporate sustainability narratives. In the Chile, Riofrancos documents how lithium executives justify extraction by drawing a sharp distinction between freshwater and brine. Because extraction targets brine, these practices are framed as environmentally sustainable. Brine supports life and forms an integral part of salt-flat ecosystems, much like saline environments found elsewhere in the biosphere. The book easily dismantles this claim by foregrounding the ecological role of brine itself (as with many other myths). Treating brine as expendable allows ecological harm to be obscured through claims of green responsibility.
For me, the most significant takeaway lies in its questioning of the assumptions that underpin projected material demand. Riofrancos shows how estimates of future mining requirements are often based on models that assume a continuation of highly individualised consumption patterns, particularly the widespread adoption of personal EV's in contexts such as the US, the normative vision of mobility that reproduces car-dependent infrastructures. The book asks a different question. What would the material requirements of the green transition look like if investment were directed toward reinventing public transport rather than electrifying private cars?
Without challenging the models of consumption that drive mineral demand, efforts to green extraction risk reinforcing the inequalities and ecological pressures they claim to address.
January 4, 2026
Books about climate change and the environment can get repetitive – there’s only so much “do this, don’t do that” that anyone needs to read. They’re more interesting when they dig into a topic you don’t encounter in your routine news diet. Extraction brings you into the world of mining the materials that power the batteries that fuel green energy. What does it take to bring lithium to market so that you can charge your mobile phone or car?
I first heard the author on a local radio program and then was able to attend a book talk that was held at Providence College, where she teaches. She’s excellent at explaining her materials to a general audience, so I recommend going to one of these events if you can.
In addition to covering what might be considered traditional issues – such as the environmental impact of extraction – there’s also a focus on how governments and corporations strive to control the supply chain. The old model of pushing most mining off on other countries gets disrupted as countries such as the US desire more control over sourcing. (Some of these practices are more visible given the transparent corruption of the current administration.) Countries that traditionally have played a role in mining, in turn, want to build industries further down the supply chain to retain more wealth domestically.
The author takes you to Chile and other locations that happen to contain the largest and/or most easily accessed deposits of these critical minerals. At some sites, the lithium is concentrated in underground reservoirs of brine, which is pumped out into ponds where evaporation works its magic to concentrate it further. This leads to absurd regulatory discussions about whether or not brine is, in fact, water. Discuss. 😊
I’ve always been inclined to hold on to my electronics as long as possible – what is now framed as “device hoarding” just seemed like good old-fashioned thrift in my eyes. Having learned more about what it takes to bring lithium to market, I feel better about my efforts to get the most mileage out of my phones and tablets, and to return them through official channels when they’re past their prime.
I first heard the author on a local radio program and then was able to attend a book talk that was held at Providence College, where she teaches. She’s excellent at explaining her materials to a general audience, so I recommend going to one of these events if you can.
In addition to covering what might be considered traditional issues – such as the environmental impact of extraction – there’s also a focus on how governments and corporations strive to control the supply chain. The old model of pushing most mining off on other countries gets disrupted as countries such as the US desire more control over sourcing. (Some of these practices are more visible given the transparent corruption of the current administration.) Countries that traditionally have played a role in mining, in turn, want to build industries further down the supply chain to retain more wealth domestically.
The author takes you to Chile and other locations that happen to contain the largest and/or most easily accessed deposits of these critical minerals. At some sites, the lithium is concentrated in underground reservoirs of brine, which is pumped out into ponds where evaporation works its magic to concentrate it further. This leads to absurd regulatory discussions about whether or not brine is, in fact, water. Discuss. 😊
I’ve always been inclined to hold on to my electronics as long as possible – what is now framed as “device hoarding” just seemed like good old-fashioned thrift in my eyes. Having learned more about what it takes to bring lithium to market, I feel better about my efforts to get the most mileage out of my phones and tablets, and to return them through official channels when they’re past their prime.
January 20, 2026
This book is deeply well-researched, and you can feel that it comes from someone who has spent over a decade studying extractivism and working on the front lines. There’s a real sense of care and love behind it; not just for the Earth, but for the people who live on it. That care is visible in the author’s interactions with people across the entire supply chain, from cushy energy conferences to communities whose lands are directly impacted by mining. What stood out most to me was how the book gives equal importance to people, plants, landscapes, and even microorganisms—using examples like a rare Tiehm’s Buckwheat flower in Nevada as a symbol of resilience. The heart of the book lies in these long-term, personal relationships, which make the consequences of extraction impossible to ignore.
The book ultimately makes clear that we cannot simply “electrify the status quo.” Mining as it exists today is already causing immense harm to people and the planet, and real climate action requires reducing consumption and imagining a fundamentally different future. This feels especially urgent now. In the U.S., sustainability discourse has increasingly shifted toward national security, with onshoring and stockpiling minerals justified through fear and militarization. We’ve seen this in rhetoric around claiming or controlling places like Greenland and Venezuela for resources, and in the diversion of so-called “green transition” minerals into Pentagon stockpiles and weapons production. Even since this book was written, things have grown darker. That makes its call to action even more powerful: in a time of volatility and rising inequality, we have a choice. To let extraction deepen violence and concentration of power, or to fight for a future that prioritizes people and planet over the interests of the wealthy few.
The book ultimately makes clear that we cannot simply “electrify the status quo.” Mining as it exists today is already causing immense harm to people and the planet, and real climate action requires reducing consumption and imagining a fundamentally different future. This feels especially urgent now. In the U.S., sustainability discourse has increasingly shifted toward national security, with onshoring and stockpiling minerals justified through fear and militarization. We’ve seen this in rhetoric around claiming or controlling places like Greenland and Venezuela for resources, and in the diversion of so-called “green transition” minerals into Pentagon stockpiles and weapons production. Even since this book was written, things have grown darker. That makes its call to action even more powerful: in a time of volatility and rising inequality, we have a choice. To let extraction deepen violence and concentration of power, or to fight for a future that prioritizes people and planet over the interests of the wealthy few.
February 3, 2026
Lithium provides a critical input for the transition to a sustainable energy future, because lithium is required to make batteries (which are important for electric vehicles and solar farms). Extracting minerals like lithium can be seen as an environmentally destructive action, but can also be framed as a necessity to reach the environmentally essential goal of net zero emissions. We'll need a heck of a lot more electric vehicles to move away from our fossil-fuel dependent transport systems, and a heck of a lot more solar farms and batteries to manage the energy demand for electrified vehicle fleets.
To me, this book was a bit uneven. It was at its strongest when it was at its most specific, e.g. Albemarle made a deal with the Chilean government at ABC date that requires DEF conditions for lithium brine extraction. I also liked the final chapter, which covered how, if we theorise reducing car dependency, maximising lithium recycling, and reducing the size of EV batteries, we can see a path to zero emissions that doesn't require as much lithium as some people would have you think (and therefore not as many new mines as you might expect, take note, politicians!). A lot of other climate modelling assumes that an energy transition means replacing petrol powered vehicles with electric ones. I really liked that the references provided mean that you can find the source materials, including that full report and new modelling https://climateandcommunity.org/wp-co...
To me, this book was a bit uneven. It was at its strongest when it was at its most specific, e.g. Albemarle made a deal with the Chilean government at ABC date that requires DEF conditions for lithium brine extraction. I also liked the final chapter, which covered how, if we theorise reducing car dependency, maximising lithium recycling, and reducing the size of EV batteries, we can see a path to zero emissions that doesn't require as much lithium as some people would have you think (and therefore not as many new mines as you might expect, take note, politicians!). A lot of other climate modelling assumes that an energy transition means replacing petrol powered vehicles with electric ones. I really liked that the references provided mean that you can find the source materials, including that full report and new modelling https://climateandcommunity.org/wp-co...
December 21, 2025
Highly relevant deep-dive into an inherently conflictuous sustainability issue, that I‘m still unsure what to think about. Many years of research woven into a story about mining and its consequences in different places, leading deeper and deeper into the structural inequalities of global capitalist production networks. Had some difficulties following the details of Chilean politics and economy but loved the lively picture of the Atacama salt flat and its ecology that I’ve been missing in academic works on the issue. Also, the impressive amount of detail in the acknowledgement section communicates very clearly the thoroughness that Riofrancos puts in her work.
January 19, 2026
A really interesting read about lithium mining (something that I really knew nothing about), and all the complexities of ‘green’ energy, extraction, the implications and interplay for local communities, the consumer, governments, carbon emissions, the natural world, the future etc etc.
I want to be hopeful, but I do wish the last part of the book was more built out - where Riofrancos talks about the future and what a better future might look like. There was also a focus on Chile (which is fine), but the reality is this is a global problem and by not going into as much detail on other players (such as China, which I acknowledge could be a while book in itself) it’s not a full picture.
I want to be hopeful, but I do wish the last part of the book was more built out - where Riofrancos talks about the future and what a better future might look like. There was also a focus on Chile (which is fine), but the reality is this is a global problem and by not going into as much detail on other players (such as China, which I acknowledge could be a while book in itself) it’s not a full picture.
December 9, 2025
I was really excited to read this book, especially after listening to Riofrancos’ Dig interview. But the book honestly fell short of expectations. It does a good job of presenting the dilemma of extraction—the simultaneous need to mine more lithium and the toll that mining take on the environment and local communities—but it doesn’t really say much about how we should navigate this dilemma. Only in the last few pages does the book discuss how redesigning our cities to be more dense would reduce our need for lithium: a discussion that felt rushed.
October 29, 2025
A great read about the realities of the transition to "green" energy. It's complicated. But also, this book. calls for focusing our choices in an ethical way that protects everyone, not just the Global North.
January 23, 2026
surprisingly (frustratingly) light on detail
February 1, 2026
very informative read. would like to see more of the research the writing is based on but that is not any of the author’s concern.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews