Extractivism and beyond Latin America debates

Natural resource extraction, or extractivism, has long been a key factor in both the economic development strategies pursued by governments as a means of expanding the forces of production and as a modality of capital accumulation. The purpose of this paper is to cut through some of the theoretical and policy debates that have surrounded the concept of extractivism, and to explicate the development and resistance dynamics of extractivism, and neoextractivism, in the Latin American context. The central question addressed in the paper is whether extractivism can be combined with a new industrial policy in forging a pathway towards a transition towards a more sustainable future.