1268 | 433 | The imagined resource: between promise and conflict around a lithium reservoir in southern Peru.

This paper will explore, based on the concept of resource imaginaries, the discourses, promises and tensions generated by the discovery of lithium reserves in a community in the southern Peruvian Andes, in the region of Puno, and how these are framed in the context of the most important socio-political conflict in our recent history. _x000D_
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In 2017, the Canadian company Macusani Yellowcake found, almost by chance, the deposit in a lake that covers the districts of Macusani and Corani, an area near the border with Bolivia. However, the project has been suspended because the lithium found is associated with uranium, and the country has neither the technology to process it nor a legal framework to regulate its exploitation, taking into account the risk of radiation it would entail. _x000D_
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The promise of lithium as a strategic resource linked to «development and national sovereignty» was made official in 2021 through the law that declared the exploitation and industrialization of this resource and its derivatives to be of national interest. The discourse constructed by the government did not manage to become hegemonic at that time, nor was it legitimized by a social majority. However, in the south of the country, where the deposit is located and marked by extractivism and permanent cycles of conflict, the expectations surrounding the future exploitation have only increased. _x000D_
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«We are not going to allow even one kilo of lithium to come out if it is not first industrialized in Puno and if there is no direct benefit for the whole region», declared a few days ago the representative of the native communities of the area. To summarize, based on a bibliographic review and interviews to key actors, I will analyze the multiplicity of visions and metaphors constructed by different stakeholders regarding the future of the exploitation, still imaginary, of the longed-for resource that has become one of the main demands of recent social mobilizations.

Sayuri Andrade Toma
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú

ID Abstract: 433