Unraveling lithium dreams: Emergent imaginaries and discourses in the Altiplano's new extractive frontier

Merino R.; Ramírez T.; Hernando D. · World Development (2026) · DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2026.107550

Resumen

Critical minerals for the energy transition are triggering new development challenges. This article contributes to understanding these challenges by discussing the emergence of socio-technical imaginaries regarding the prospects of lithium extraction in Puno, Peru. Some scholars explain how state policies in Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia rely on state officials’ lithium imaginaries related to ideas of technological development, industrialization, and sustainability. Others have delved into how the grassroots question dominant lithium imaginaries and policies. Nonetheless, between the forging of dominant imaginaries and local contestation, there are more complex forms of co-existence of imaginaries and negotiation of ontological differences. Considering the relevance of addressing this complexity, this article presents a multi-site analysis to discuss how different actors from the state, civil society, the corporate sector, and local communities appeal to similar discourses but formulate different imaginaries on lithium extraction. Based on semi-structured interviews, documentary analysis, and participatory research, this article categorizes these imaginaries in a market-led sociotechnical imaginary, mostly advanced by high state officials and corporate actors; a state-led sociotechnical imaginary, differently advanced by sub-national authorities and regional organizations; and a commodity imaginary, advanced by local leaders and communities in their pursuit to overcome poverty and exclusion. While these imaginaries overlap in a new extractive frontier, local communities do not renounce their ontological world, connected to traditional economies and livelihoods.

Instituciones: Universidad del Pacífico