New Books in Anthropology Lian Sinclair, "Undermining Resistance: The Governance of Participation by Multinational Mining Corporations" (Manchester UP, 2024)
May 2, 2025
Lian Sinclair, a Postdoctoral research associate at the University of Sydney, dives deep into the world of multinational mining corporations and their strategies in her book, 'Undermining Resistance.' She discusses how these companies use participation to undermine local resistance, highlighting case studies from Indonesia. Sinclair emphasizes the dual nature of mining's impact on communities and the crucial role of grassroots activism. She also explores the complexities of corporate legitimacy and the shifting investment landscape, revealing how these factors complicate the relationship between communities and corporations.
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Mining's Societal Paradox
- Mining transforms societies with wealth and environmental destruction side by side.
- This paradox deeply reflects global capitalism's tensions between development and inequality.
Land Grabbing Disrupts Communities
- Resource extraction sharpens global capitalism's tension between consumerism and environmental harm.
- Land grabbing causes disruption forcing affected communities to adapt or resist mining impacts.
Mining Corporations’ Global Governance
- Multinational mining corporations formed global governance bodies to regain legitimacy amid multiple crises in the 1990s.
- Local protests escalated to international attention, threatening profits and regulation, prompting collective corporate responses.