Blog Entry

A North-South Dialogue on Extractivism: Resistance and Alternatives

Jamie Kneen

National Program Co-Lead

This workshop was held on August 11, 2016, as part of the World Social Forum in Montreal. It was jointly presented by Kairos and MiningWatch Canada.

Predatory extractivism — the exploitation of natural wealth for short-term profit without regard for its consequences — is being challenged ever more fiercely both intellectually and theoretically and on the ground. Indigenous and popular movements, writers and thinkers in different parts of the world use different approaches and strategies, but the fundamental struggle for ecological, climate, and social justice is the same.

This workshop brought together diverse experiences to see what common elements we can identify, to weave them together as elements of a common struggle.

We then turn to participants for reflections, stories, and ideas –– experiences and experiments in breaking with the consumer capitalist paradigm against predatory extractivism and working towards more sustainable development models, on a local scale as well as in movements supporting more sustainable traditions and more sustainable development models – social movements, Indigenous and peasant movements)

Speakers:
Jamie Kneen, MiningWatch Canada
Gloria Chicaiza, Acción Ecológica
Jacinda Mack, First Nations Women Advocating Responsible Mining
John Dillon, Kairos

Facilitator: Ian Thomson, Kairos
Translator: Rachel Warden, Kairos