Lithium Mining and the ‘Green Sacrificial Logics’ of the Energy Transition in Barroso, Portugal
Authors:
Eleonora Piccardi (CES); Mariana Riquito (CES); Marcus Erridge (CES); Irina Velicu (CES)
Abstract:
The ‘Mina do Barroso’ case has become emblematic of the struggle between the push for decarbonisation and ‘green mining’—driven by international and national policies on critical mineral extraction—and the need for social, cultural, and environmental protections. This case study mobilises the concept of Green Sacrifice Zones (GSZs) to unpack the sacrificial logics present in key enabling policies, pro-lithium discourses, and processes of loss, damage and injustices experienced or anticipated by local communities impacted by the granting, public consultation and prospecting processes of Mina do Barroso. Through Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and content/keyword analysis of primary and secondary data, the case study reveals gaps in the socioeconomic benefits promised by advocates of ‘green mining’. It also exposes a minimisation of environmental protection policies and an exacerbation of processes of rural marginalisation and peripheralisation. This poses a risk of erasing a unique and sustainable historical, agricultural, cultural, and social system.
