Public seminar to examine political ecology of mining in Aotearoa

The online seminar, Convivial extraction? Where to for a post-capitalist political ecology of mining?, will be held on Wednesday 1 October at 12 noon.

Professor Banks says the seminar will draw together current tensions around new mining projects and expansions under the Fast-Track Approvals Act with emerging debates about post-capitalist futures.

“We need to consider whether a post-capitalist paradigm of extraction is even possible. Most immediately, the question is how we can prefigure some of these ideas in the context of New Zealand's current mining blitz.”

He adds that examining new extraction pathways is about more than resource use.

“This is also a conversation about just transitions, relationality, and how we might imagine and enable a different relationship with extraction in the future,” Professor Banks says.

The event is part of the Political Ecology Research Centre’s (PERC) 10-year anniversary seminar series, Environmental Futures, which brings together a diverse range of speakers reflecting on developments since PERC’s founding and looking toward future directions in political ecology.

Professor Banks’ research focuses on the socio-economic and cultural dimensions of large-scale extractive industries in the Pacific region, including Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Aotearoa. He has conducted consultancy work and social impact assessments for mining projects across the Pacific, advised governments on mineral policy, and was awarded the Distinguished Geographer Medal by the New Zealand Geographical Society.

The seminar is open to Massey staff, students and the public.

Event details:
Date: Wednesday 1 October
Time: 12 noon
Zoom: https://massey.zoom.us/j/3377201046