The Rhodes Center Podcast with Mark Blyth The extraction industry powering the green transition
Nov 24, 2025
Thea Riofrancos, a political scientist and environmentalist, discusses her book on lithium extraction and its geopolitical implications. She reveals how lithium, essential for modern tech and the green transition, shapes global power dynamics. Thea highlights Latin America's resource nationalism, the community impacts of mining, and the contrasting strategies of the US and China in securing lithium supply. She critiques assumptions about rising demand, advocating for policy shifts to reduce reliance on mining. This compelling exploration merges environmentalism with politics.
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Lithium Reveals Global Power Dynamics
- Thea Riofrancos frames lithium extraction as a lens onto geopolitics, finance, and social movements that shape the green transition.
- Studying a single commodity reveals centuries of colonialism, resource nationalism, and modern global crises.
Resource Nationalism's Deep Roots
- Latin America pioneered resource nationalization early in the 20th century and influenced later decolonized states' strategies.
- Resource nationalism cycles back into fashion when countries seek more control and downstream industrialization.
Voices From The Atacama Desert
- Thea visited Chile's Atacama and heard locals fear lithium becoming another extractive boom that leaves ghost towns and environmental damage.
- Residents worry about water shortages, irreversible landscape change, and volatile commodity cycles undermining development.
