Year: 2026
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: This essay critically analyses the socio-ecological and ontological implications of lithium extraction in the Chilean altiplano, with a focus on the Maricunga Salt Flat. Despite being internationally framed as a cornerstone of the energy transition, lithium mining reconfigures fragile high-Andean wetlands into industrial landscapes, evaporating millions of litres of water in the driest desert on Earth and undermining the hydrological balances essential to biodiversity. The analysis shows how extractive infrastructures not only trigger ecological degradation but also disrupt Indigenous relations with territory, where water, mountains and salt flats are conceived as living beings within reciprocal bonds of care. Drawing on posthumanist and decolonial perspectives, the essay critiques the anthropocentric logic of extractivism and foregrounds Andean philosophies as alternative epistemologies. It ultimately argues for planning and design practices grounded in coexistence, reciprocity and ecosystemic justice.
Source: UIA World Congress of Architects
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7171629593