Political Ecologies of Resources Extraction
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Morenci Mine, Oct. 2016
Bisbee, Lavender Pit, Oct. 2016
Study of Environmental Conflicts Related to Mines in Arizona. A Political Ecology Perspective on the Rosemont Case (Pima County)
2015 - 2017
My first experience in Arizona and the U.S. was working on environmental conflicts related to copper mines. I spent eight months as a research assistant for French sociologist Franck Poupeau, who was leading the International Research Lab Iglobes, jointly operated by the University of Arizona and CNRS. During the summer of 2015, I focused on analyzing public comments submitted to the U.S.Forest Service concerning the Rosemont mine project in the Santa Rita Mountains of southern Arizona. The goal was to identify the key stakeholders involved in shaping environmental regulations and promoting sustainable mining practices, mapping their positions within the social landscape. Findings from this research underscored the significant influence of scientific expertise in shaping the environmental debate, leading to a professionalization of environmental discourses. Among these professionals, we identified distinct groups that play influential roles in Arizona's political landscape: proponents of growth-oriented development and advocates for environmental preservation. Despite differing agendas, both groups share a common perspective on nature, viewing the Southwest desert as a space for either productive exploitation or recreational enjoyment. Overall, this work shed light on the complexities inherent in balancing economic development with environmental stewardship, offering insights into the dynamics of environmental policy and discourse in Arizona.
You can read more here :
or in French, with a specific focus on public participation issues:
Mural in Cananea, Son., Mexico, May 2018
Pueblo Gem & Mineral Show, Tucson, Feb. 2024 (Photo by Mathilde Poret, M.A. Student at the EHESS)
The Santa Rita Mountains in Southern Arizona, April 2022
Mining extractivism 'from the Global North'
2017 - 2018
Building on these initial results, the research project expanded to include mining activities throughout Arizona and Northern Mexico as part of a broader research initiative led by French anthropologist Claude Le Gouill. This project examines the interrelation between large-scale mining activities across the entire American continent. In this context, I participated in extensive fieldwork in Morenci, Arizona, and Cananea, Sonora, in Mexico, while Claude Le Gouill focused on case studies in Bolivia and Peru.
Although mining and its political ecology is no longer at the core of my current research, I remain interested in observing and understanding the ongoing changes, particularly in Arizona and France. I have written two blog posts on the subject.
February 2021, Drill, Baby, Drill: in Arizona, is Covid-19 being used to push through a mining project?
In 2024, I was also awarded a small research grant by the Labex DRIIHM of the CNRS, along with anthropologists and sociologists Sébastien Roux, Marine Bobin, and Brian O'Neill, to work on the aestheticization of extractivism, using the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show as a case study (3,500 euros).
