There are at least two ways of interacting with the environment: in some cases, the changes made to the environment are limited, since no element is removed or the environment undergoes only minor alterations (for example, enjoying a landscape or gathering wild fruit). In other cases, resources are extracted using methods that have a greater impact on the environment. We speak of extractivism when this impact involves a large volume of natural resources extracted, with a toxic intensity that does not allow the regeneration of natural balances, and with the resources destined mainly abroad.
WHAT IT MEANS
- The Latin American bishops define extractivism as “an unbridled tendency of the economic system to convert the goods of nature into capital.”
- The word extractivism can be associated with the Latin term «extrahere»: to remove or drag something out of itself and toward us. It is therefore the act of taking away or removing something by force: a process in which natural resources are “torn” from both communities and nature itself, with violence and without respect for rights.
- Extractivism refers to the most evidently extractive activities (minerals and hydrocarbons), but also to extensive monoculture, industrial fishing and similar cases, which we can group together in the threefold identification of volume-intensity-destination of resources. From this derive certain economic models, such as for example:
= Enclave economies: controlled by external capital, poorly integrated with the territory and local communities, they transfer most of the profits elsewhere
= The plantation economy: large-scale agricultural production, concentrated in large estates and oriented toward export, historically founded on forced or underpaid labor and on monoculture.
WHY IT MATTERS
- Because since colonial times it has constituted the model of plunder and domination over many peoples of the Global South.
- Because even today it is the economic option privileged by rich countries and the most convenient option for many peripheral countries, regardless of whether governments are progressive or conservative.
- Because the communities we accompany pastorally are often victims of this model and are unable to develop their own proposals for local economy and administration of the common goods.
WHY IT CONCERNS RELIGIOUS LIFE
- The evangelical counsels we profess also illuminate the model of society we are called to build and transform, according to the values of the Kingdom.
- The vow of poverty, in particular, gives value to limits, to sharing and distribution, to respect for the times and gifts that the earth and Providence give us. In this sense, an extractivist economy is an anti-evangelical economy (cf. the various parables of Jesus on wealth).
- The cry of the Earth and the option for the poor ask us to support the life solutions that small communities adopt in their territories and to support organized civil society, which has built living and participatory local economies, a real alternative to the accumulation proposed by extractive models.
AN EVANGELICAL CALL TODAY
Integral ecology is by its nature integration and appreciation of the diversity of peoples, of their forms of life and social and economic organization. On the contrary, the homogenization of extractivism reduces us all to consumers and objects of consumption. If evangelizing means offering proposals of full life and dignity to people, the Gospel calls us to overcome the logic of extractivism.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCERNMENT
- What are the contexts in our country where the consequences of extractivism are suffered most?
- How can our religious life be a sign of hope and an alternative in these contexts?
- Are there particularly significant religious experiences in this sense that can inspire us?
REMEMBER:
“It is essential to show special care for indigenous communities and their cultural traditions. They are not merely one minority among others, but should be the principal dialogue partners, especially when large projects affecting their land are proposed. For them, land is not a commodity but rather a gift from God and from their ancestors who rest there, a sacred space with which they need to interact if they are to maintain their identity and values. When they remain on their land, they themselves care for it best. Nevertheless, in various parts of the world, pressure is being put on them to abandon their homelands to make room for agricultural or mining projects which are undertaken without regard for the degradation of nature and culture. ” (Pope Francis, Laudato Si’ 146)
ESSENTIAL REFERENCES
= Centro Latino Americano de Ecología Social — CLAES (https://www.extractivismo.com)
= Ferdinand, M. (2024) Un’ecologia decoloniale. Pensare l’ecologia dal mondo caraibico (A Decolonial Ecology: Thinking Ecology from the Caribbean World)
= World Council of Churches (2007) Linking Poverty, Wealth and Ecology: African ecumenical perspectives
= CELAM, Discípulos misioneros custodios de la casa común (2018)
ESSENTIAL RESOURCES
= Red Iglesias y Minería (https://iglesiasymineria.org)
= CIDSE — Together for Global Justice (https://cidse.org/)
= VIVAT Eco life and action (https://www.vivatinternational.org/eco/)
RECOMMENDED INITIATIVE
The Latin American ecumenical network Iglesias y Minería (Churches and Mining Network — https://iglesiasymineria.org) has for about fifteen years denounced extractivism and supported local communities in more than ten countries of the continent. The strength of these communities and of the network that connects them is spirituality, the ancestral bond with the territories, which firmly resists the extractive projects of large multinationals and of the States that support them. Significant alliances exist between this network and other initiatives in Africa and Asia to confront extractivism. The Dicastery for Integral Human Development has recently published a document of pastoral guidelines inspired by listening to these continental initiatives: Catholic Approaches to Mining.
