Abstract

ARGENTO, Melisa. Salt Mirror: Structures of Collective Action and Territorial Integration of the Lithium Extraction and Industrialization Project in Bolivia. E&c [online]. 2018, vol.2, n.7, pp.227-248. ISSN 2477-9245.  https://doi.org/10.37228/estado_comunes.v2.n7.2018.89.

The triangle constituted by the salt flats of Chile, Argentina and Bolivia has more than 80 % of the lithium salt brine reserve in the world. Lithium is a highly coveted mineral, given its potential as an accumulator of sustainable energies and because it is used on batteries for electronic devices and electric cars, among many other present or future technological goods. This article maintains that since 2008 Bolivia has set to keep the entire productive process “from the salt flat to the battery” under state control, unlike its neighbour countries which have adopted an extractionist model of the raw material. Far from being a top-down public policy, this project of lithium industrialization has a social background and it is organized within the territory with the dynamics and structures of union and community collective action. The movement encouraged the agenda for the “nationalization of resources” in the demonstrations that took place before Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) rose to power.

Keywords : Bolivia; lithium; industrial policy; territories; collective action; union; community.

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