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Extractivism Talks #08:

“Javier Milei and Argentina’s Collapse"

The Event
8 July 2024, 18 – 20PM

The Extractivism Talks series is our platform for timely discussions on international affairs and current events. It explores the connections between global uneven development and extractivist regimes in the Global South. The series encourages interdisciplinary discussions with unique insights about the international conditions and possibilities of change in the Global South, with a particular focus on the Middle East and Latin America.

The Extractivism Talks #08 is on Argentinean president Javier Milei and the ongoing collapse of the country’s status quo. We will be taking stock of the first year of Milei’s presidency and how the Argentinean state has been disrupted on many levels. Since his rise to power in December 2023, the ultra-liberal leader has been altering environmental preservation laws, cutting ministries and state departments, pushing privatisations and weakening social protection – particularly for women, LGBTQI+ and social movements. These changes have interrelated global dimensions as the rivalry between powers like China and the United States reheats while the international race for natural resources needed for the energy transition emerges. Argentina is home to many resources needed for the energy transition, particularly lithium. The debate will explore how Milei has been capitalising on both domestic discontent and a growing competitive international context to promote a harsh neoliberalization of the economy and an abrupt reduction of the role of the state. It will give special attention to how his presidency relates to unforeseen levels of extractivist operations through deregulation, privatisation, opening new mining pits, removing barriers to agribusiness, introducing fracking, and repressing anti-extractivist social movements.

The event will take place on July 8 at the University of Kassel and by live-stream by Zoom from 18h to 20h.

LINK TO REGISTER ON ZOOM: https://uni-kassel.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_tN-K-GMlQ-iCvIQZqJai9Q

The participants:

Facundo Martín
(Georg Foster fellow at the University of Kassel and University of Cuyo)

Facundo is a Researcher at the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) and a Professor at the Geography Department of the National University of Cuyo. He holds a Master's degree in Agrarian Social Studies from FLACSO/Buenos Aires and a PhD in Social Sciences from the University of Buenos Aires. Since 2006 he has received multiple scholarships to study in the country as well as to carry out academic stays abroad (Brazil, Germany, Colombia and the United States). He was recently awarded the Georg Forster Fellowship for experienced researchers of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2024-2025).

Teresa Kramarz
(University of Toronto)

Teresa is an Assistant Professor at the School of the Environment at the University of Toronto. She is the Co-Director of the Environmental Governance Lab, the Co-Chair of the United Nations Development Programme’s External Advisory Group for Energy Governance as well as the co-convener of the Accountability in Global Environmental Governance Task Force of the Earth System Governance network. Her work focuses on the governance of extractive industries in the context of green energy transition, environmental accountability, and partnerships led by international organisations. She has been working on environmental policy and governance for almost 30 years, first as an international civil servant at the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme and then as a scholar.

Verónica Robert
(Universidad San Martin)

Verónica is a senior researcher at Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), a professor at the National University of San Martín (UNSAM) and director of the Master in Economic Development at the Interdisciplinary School of Higher Social Studies at the same university. She is a specialist in the economics of innovation and technological change and holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Buenos Aires. She served as Undersecretary of Strategy for Development of the Secretariat of Strategic Affairs of Argentina, addressing the issue of energy transition and its challenges in terms of productive development. She has been a consultant for international organisations such as ECLAC, IDB and ILO. Her recent publications deal with ecological and digital transitions and their impact on value chains and the productive structures of peripheral economies. For her doctoral work, she received the Faculty of Economic Sciences Award and the Raúl Prebisch Award.

Agustin Gabriel Piaz
(Universidad San Martin)

Agustín Piaz is a researcher at CONICET (National Council for Scientific and Technical Research) and professor at the Universidad Nacional de San Martín (UNSAM) and Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA). He holds a doctorate in social sciences from UBA and a master's degree in sociology of culture and cultural analysis from UNSAM. His research focuses on controversy studies and environmental conflicts, and addresses energy and food issues, with an emphasis on energy transitions and the role of nuclear power.

The venue​

The adress: 

Room 1102 

Arnold-Bode-Straße 10,

34127 KASSEL

LINK TO ZOOM