New Energy for Old Dependencies? Geoeconomic Dependencies between Lithium Extraction in South America and China’s Ecological Civilisation

Abstract
Ecological Civilisation has been established as one of the key theoretical-political concepts in the People's Republic of China, articulating a series of policies, initiatives, and campaigns that seek to implement a national vision of sustainable development. This article reflects on the imagination of environmental sustainability contained in Ecological Civilisation through the promotion of the New Energy Vehicle (NEV) industry in China, where lithium-ion batteries are the key enabling technology. The central idea is that Ecological Civilisation stands as a strategy of economic growth based on technological optimism fed by a new energy. However, the promotion of a new energy for the Ecological Civilisation is underpinned by the reproduction of socio-economic and geo-economic inequalities that are rendered invisible by the codification of these morally desirable energies as green and clean.

Dr Pablo Ampuero-Ruiz is Assistant Professor in the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam and a Visiting Fellow of the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) in Leiden. A trained social anthropologist and historian, he is currently developing a research agenda exploring the links between finance and transition minerals in the production of a ‘green economy’ between China and South America. Pablo did his PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Germany. Besides his current work on green economy transitions, his research has explored diverse aspects of electromobility, migrant labour in China, and Sino-Latin American relations, and he has lectured and researched in several South American, Chinese and European institutions. Pablo is also a photo-documentalist, with part of his work published by the National Geographic, and hosts a Spanish-language podcast about the contemporary transformations in East Asia called ‘Todo Bajo el Cielo’.

Moderation : Virginie Arantes, ULB - REPI

Wednesday, February 5th, 2024
From 12 to 2 pm
The event will be held in a hybrid format.
Registration required by February 3rd: https://forms.office.com/e/ybd7iEXkxH?origin=lprLink

REPI
Université libre de Bruxelles
IEE RT39 Geremek Room
Avenue F. Roosevelt 39
1050 Bruxelles

Cycle de séminaires REVIP
REVIP est un cycle de séminaires qui a pour but de rassembler des chercheurs en sciences sociales autour de questionnements relatifs aux modes d’existence du « vivant » et de son entrée en politique. Dans cette perspective, les rencontres organisées visent à replacer humains et non-humains au cœur des controverses qui les animent en invitant des intervenants académiques et non-académiques à venir échanger sur leurs recherches et leurs expériences du « vivant » dans leur domaine d’étude et/ou d’action.

Comité d’organisation
Virginie Arantes (REPI, EASt), Camille Chamois (PHI), Emmanuel Charreau (CTP), Alice Dechamps (CEVIPOL), Eléonore De Decker (REPI), Eric Fabri (CTP), Quentin Hiernaux (PHI), Marc-Antoine Sabaté (CTP), Krystel Wanneau (Sciences Po Grenoble, REPI), Christophe Wasinski (REPI), Allan Wei (LIEU)

REVIP Seminar cycle - REPI - Recherche et Etudes en Politique Internationale