EARTH MATTER: AN INDEX ON EXTRACTIVISM / Xavier Ribas, Louise Purbrick & Ignacio Acosta

Paperback   
English / ISBN: 978-84-127567-0-8
Spanish / ISBN: 978-84-127567-1-5
16.5 x 24.5 cm
300 color images, 150 halftones.
280 pp.

Earth Matter is the culmination of over a decade of collaborative research exploring the global impact of extractivism. Closely tied to the Traces of Nitrate project, this book delves into the history of extractivism in Chile, beginning with the nitrate mines in the Atacama Desert in the nineteenth century and extending to the ongoing extraction of copper, lithium and water today. Through photography, video, archival research and personal interviews, artist-researchers Xavier Ribas and Ignacio Acosta and activist-writer Louise Purbrick examine the interconnected forces that bind Chile’s natural resources to global capital, particularly in the City of London.

This publication offers a critical analysis of how extractivist practices have

shaped both historical and contemporary life, while anticipating future forms of exploitation. An index of terms explores past and present facts, documents, sites, projects, politicians, activists, NGOs and critical writings to form a Benjaminian constellation that readers can connect and decipher at their own pace.

The book opens with an introduction by Carles Guerra on artistic practice as

a pedagogical method for articulating disparate forms of knowledge and follows on with essays by microbiologist Cristina Dorador on life in extreme climates, by politician and environmentalist Sara Larraín on the legal protection of solid water, and by political theorists Robert Nichols and Nicco Tiburcio on the history of land expropriation linked to extractivism, as well as an interview with Rodolfo Andaur on grammars of displacement and his curatorial work in the Atacama Desert. Earth Matter provides a comprehensive map of the forces driving the increasingly hegemonic system of resource extraction. It reflects not only on past struggles but also on the

ongoing fight for justice in the face of an unrelenting global economy.

XAVIER RIBAS

Xavier Ribas is a photographer and part-time lecturer at the University of Brighton and associate lecturer at the Universitat Politècnica de València. Trained as an anthropologist with a keen interest in geography, urban studies and the philosophy of history, he uses his photographic work to explore contested sites and histories, border territories and geographies of extraction.

LOUISE PURBRICK

Louise Purbrick is a writer and activist based at the Royal College of Art, London. She works on landscapes of extractivism, spaces of incarceration, border zones, colonial sites and acts of everyday ecological and political resistance.

IGNACIO ACOSTA

Ignacio Acosta is a Chilean-born artist and researcher working with photography and video in territories under pressure from extractive industries. Copper Geographies, published in 2018, stemmed from his PhD at the University of Brighton as part of the Traces of Nitrate research project. He is a Research Associate at the Royal College of Arts and a postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Multidisciplinary Studies on Racism (CEMFOR) at Uppsala University, Sweden.

CARLES GUERRA

Carles Guerra is an art critic, curator, researcher and educator. He has held leadership roles in several major institutions, including director of the Fundació Antoni Tàpies and La Virreina Centre de la Imatge and chief curator of the MACBA Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona. His research has focused on dialogical practices in art and visual culture, critical pedagogies, documentary practices and the conditions of cultural production in the context of post-Fordism.

SARA LARRAÍN

Sara Larraín is an environmental leader and expert in public policy. She cofounded RENACE, led Greenpeace Chile and has been head of Chile Sustentable since 1997. She has contributed to key environmental policies, including laws on energy efficiency, glacier protection and renewable energy. She is also active in international networks promoting sustainable energy solutions, including Renewables 21.

ROBERT NICHOLS

Robert Nichols is Professor of History of Consciousness at the University of California, Santa Cruz. His areas of research specialisation include contemporary political theory, the history of political thought and the contemporary politics of settler colonialism and indigeneity in the Anglo-American world.

NICCO TIBURCIO SESIA

Nicco Tiburcio Sesia is a PhD student in the History of Consciousness department at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He holds a BA in Philosophy from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and an MA in Knowledge in Societies / Environmental Studies from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS). His current research is on extractivist devices, socioenvironmental movements, theories of sovereignty and infrastructures of accumulation.

CRISTINA DORADOR ORTIZ

Cristina Dorador Ortiz is a Chilean scientist and microbiologist specialising in microbial ecology and geomicrobiology. She is an associate professor at the University of Antofagasta and titular researcher at the Centre of Biotechnology and Bioengineering in Chile. She was a member of the National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research’s transition council and served as a member of the Chilean Constitutional Convention from 2021 to 2022.