An international and interdisciplinary symposium on the history of mining, precious metals, and forms of money in Latin America from colonial to modern times.

Latin American intellectuals since before Eduardo Galeano have cast precious metals extraction as a longstanding macro-regional conundrum, usually attached to colonialism and its neocolonial successors. More recent critiques of global capitalism have returned to some of this 'colonial legacy of extraction' language, adding terms like 'Global South' and even 'Capitalocene' (vs. Anthropocene) to the mix. What is new about critiques of 'neo-extractivism' in the age of East and South Asian industrial dominance, and how are 'extractivist' policies being defended? What do we learn from the miners themselves? 

Indigenous peoples have long had a tortured relationship with precious metals (and mercury) extraction in Latin America, and some scholars today call for more attention to Indigenous perspectives. The harsh critique of garimpagem offered by Yanomami shaman Davi Kopenawa in The Falling Sky may be emblematic, or we might focus on Indigenous rejection of mining projects in Ecuador. But what do we make of Indigenous mineworkers in places like highland Bolivia, where mining remains closely tied to Indigenous identities? Are there other places where Indigenous peoples have taken unexpected positions on mining, or in which mineral extraction is not explained in wholly negative terms? Amid this, what do we make of recent laws drawing from Indigenous concepts designating the earth or 'nature' as a person (e.g., Pachamama in Ecuador and Bolivia) in order to thwart extractive projects? In all this, what is different about gold vs. other minerals, including oil, from Indigenous and non-Indigenous perspectives?

Anthropologist Anna Tsing and colleagues have lately described 'Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet,' offering the concept of 'feral landscapes,' sites of exploitation, pollution, and regeneration (see the online Feral Atlas). The late Bruno Latour and others turned our attention to 'the critical zone,' the earth's spherical upper crust and water regime, a delicate skin we all rely on and inhabit (see the online Karlsruhe exhibit and bible-sized 2020 catalogue Critical Zones). In Planetary Longings, cultural critic Mary Louise Pratt (nudged by Dipesh Chakrabarty) has outlined a 'crisis of futurity' led by residents of Latin America, especially in the arts, but also calling upon Indigenous intellectuals to point the way forward. These Anthropocene and Gaia-facing scholars have not neglected the extractive practices that many of us have studied in depth, but my sense is that they do not know them all that well, certainly not in the granular sense, and that we who have studied metals extraction and circulation may have something valuable to add. 

The Lineup (in alphabetical order):

Julio Aguiilar, currently based in Santiago, Chile, author of works on the reservoirs and canals that supplied colonial Potosí, Bolivia, with energy to crush and refine silver ore. Julio's work is heavily focused on terraforming and on efforts to control scarce water in the midst of the Little Ice Age.

James Almeida, Weber State University (Utah), author of works on the Potosí and Lima mints in the colonial era, highlighting the hidden history of slavery and penal labor in these venues. In short, James explains how the money was actually made.

Lorena Campuzano Duque, currently based in Santiago, Chile, author of works on gold mining in northern Antioquia, Colombia, mostly in the 19th and 20th centuries. Lorena's work has a strong public health dimension, and also a gendered one, contrasting local views of mining life with those of health officials.

Mark Dries, Southeastern Louisiana University, author of works on mercury mining in colonial Huancavelica, Peru. Mark has been especially interested in Indigenous prospectors and miners, and also in how Indigenous families weathered the demands of the Huancavelica mita or rotational labor draft.

Elizabeth Ferry, Brandeis University, author of works on the anthropology of mining in Mexico, especially in and around Guanajuato, and also in lowland Colombia. Elizabeth has examined global trends in the collection and monetization of minerals and metals as well, most recently extending into the realm of high finance.

Stephen Ferry, independent photographer, author of a pioneering (and still searing) book on Potosí and co-author with Elizabeth Ferry of La Batea, on alluvial gold mining in Colombia. This is just a taste of Stephen's wide-ranging and astounding work.

Kris Lane, Tulane University, author of works on gold, platinum, emerald, and silver mining in the colonial Andes. His current work examines global silver money in an era of debasement, plague, cold winters, and war.

Renée Raphael, University of California-Irvine, author of works on early modern science and technology, bridging the Atlantic and most recently centering on 16th and 17th century Potosí, site of considerable experimentation and innovation. Renée explores varieties of knowledge creation and dissemination.

Heidi Victoria Scott, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, author of works on central Andean and upper Amazonian colonization and extraction schemes and mapping, 16th and 17th century mine labor and Indigenous knowledge, and also 18th-century mining projects and broader geological and spatial theories.

Shefa Siegel, University of British Columbia, author of works on mining's forgotten place in the history of accumulation and its discontents. Trained in mining engineering, Shefa has long experience in gold mines of all sizes worldwide, part of his work in UN-sponsored (and other internationally organized) cleanup and development programs.

Daviken Studnicki-Gizbert, McGill University (Montréal), author of works on early modern global trade networks as well as the centuries-long devastation of Cerro San Pedro, outside San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Daviken has applied the concept of urban-industrial metabolisms to mining sites like this one, with an eye toward explaining the scaling up of environmental impacts of mining in Latin America over the long haul.

Zaraí Toledo Orozco, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, author of works on artisanal gold mining and shifting state policies in Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia. While always listening to mining families themselves, and keen to assess environmental impacts, Zaraí also explores the 'Devil's Bargain' dilemmas that nations face in light of calls to 'harness mineral resources' to lift nation-wide living standards.

Daniel Tubb, University of New Brunswick, Canada, author of works on gold mining in the Colombian Chocó, explaining evolution of this 'marginal' livelihood in a time of rapid change - along with the flow of gold into various unexplored channels. Daniel also explores the broader dilemmas faced by Colombia's rural poor in the face of new extractive enterprises - and he has written on regional adaptation to climate change in New Brunswick.

Juliet Wiersema, University of Texas - San Antonio, author of works on the colonial Chocó region of Colombia as an African and Indigenous (and also imagined) space as depicted in maps and charts. Juliet's new work examines forgotten Pacific port towns in the seventeenth century, sites of pillage and contraband trade. She also brings a background in pre-Columbian art centered on the fantastic Moche ceramics of north coastal Peru - more than worth their weight in gold!