March 28, 2025 | Category: Talk
Cristobal Bonelli
Cristóbal Bonelli, Principal Investigator of the Worlds of Lithium (WoL) project, was invited to inaugurate the Energy Dialogues series, organized by the ENERGEO Project.
This first session explored the often-overlooked social and environmental disruptions linked to lithium’s extraction and circulation in the context of the Green Transition. While the push for emission-free electromobility is widely promoted as a sustainable alternative, the complexities surrounding lithium as a critical resource remain largely invisible. Bonelli’s research examines how these transformations reshape landscapes, communities, and knowledge systems across Chile, China, and Norway.
Based on a multi-sited ethnographic approach, the Worlds of Lithium project reveals how lithium interconnects diverse actors, expertise, and infrastructures along its global supply chain. This dialogue offered a space to critically engage with the contradictions and challenges of energy transitions and their implications for contemporary anthropology.
📅 Date: Friday, April 4, 2025
⏰ Time: 12:00 (Lisbon)
📍 Online Session
🔗 Join via Zoom: https://videoconf-colibri.zoom.us/j/9994471565
Suggested Readings
To enrich the discussion, we encourage participants to review the following readings:
Bonelli, C. R., & Gamba, M. (2024). Underground Roots for Ancestral Futures: Exploring Lithium Through an Experimental Alliance between Chemistry and Anthropology. Science, Technology, & Human Values.
Bonelli, C., Galaz-Mandakovic, D., Weinberg, M., Figueroa, V., & Hecht, G. (2024). Cenizas del Antropoceno: Omisiones de carbón y estratigrafía tóxica en Tocopilla (Chile). Revista Colombiana de Antropología.
Bonelli, C., & Dorador, C. (2021). Endangered Salares: Micro-disasters in Northern Chile. Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology and Society.
Join us for this important discussion on lithium, sustainability, and the challenges of energy transitions!