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VIDEOS, INTERVIEWS AND DEBATES

OUR COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PROJECT

Extractivism shapes the economic and social realities of many countries in the Global South. This development model focuses on extracting and exporting non-renewable natural resources, leading entire societies to rely on this economic sector. Rather than fostering innovation, investment, diversification, productive work, and learning, these rents are based on the exploitation of nature, and their value is created in international markets. Furthermore, instead of being based on collective or individual performance, the distribution of these rents depends primarily on how specific individuals or groups gain access to these resources and their political and economic interests.

OUR RESEARCH

We seek to understand and conceptualize the nuances of the extractivism development model and its variations across different regions. Our research focuses on in-depth studies of specific socioeconomic developmental patterns, particularly their political, social and cultural impacts. We examine established patterns of distribution, conflict, and legitimation, assessing how changes in these patterns affect the persistence and transformative capacity of resource-exporting societies and their institutional frameworks. Additionally, we investigate cultural processes, exploring how the extractivism development model influences everyday routines, the formation of institutions and social practices. In the coming years, we will also focus on the geopolitical aspects of extractivism, examining how this development model reacts in the face of international challenges, emphasizing how Germany and Europe drive and are driven by these challenges.

MEET OUR Fellows

The Extractivism project is supported annually by an international research team. We invite various distinguished researchers from around the world to each project site to collaborate with our team and enhance our research topics.

EXTRACTIVISM LECTURE SERIES

During the winter semester of 2022/2023, we hosted a lecture series at our project locations in Kassel and Marburg titled “Climate Change and Raw Materials: Risk or Opportunity?” The presentations from this series can be accessed here.

Centrum für Nah- und Mittelost-Studien