Mining, Fossil Fuels, and Political Ecology (6)

Question 1

How is the mining/fossil fuels industry gendered?

Answer 1

Increased violence against women
Sex work, addiction, and issues with mental health
Affects local social dynamics but also brings in mostly male workers

Question 2

What do Rocheleau et al. mean when they state that “there are real… gender differences in experiences of, responsibilities for, and interests in ‘nature’ and environments… that… are not rooted in biology per se”? Can you think of instances in which your own perceptions of and interactions with nature were affected by gender, culture, class, race?

Answer 2

Gendered division of labour, inequalities, and violence all related women to environmental issues in different ways than men.

Question 3

What are some of the negative repercussions of petroleum exploration and extraction in Ecuador?

Answer 3

Oil spills and toxic waste, increase in illness, contamination of drinking water

Question 4

What do struggles over natural resources in different parts of the world all have in common?

Answer 4

People living in poverty or under systems of hierarchical power are the most vulnerable to the socio-ecological impacts of natural resource extraction.

Question 5

Summarize the impacts of the OK Tedi open-pit copper mine on the surrounding communities.

Answer 5

• One of the largest open pit copper mines in the world in Papua New Guinnea
• deforestation, mass erosion, biodiversity loss
• transformed Mount Fubilan, which is sacred
• Gov allowed for mine to continue putting off building a tailing dam, allowing wastes to enter the river water source
• industrialization of the locals as their social systems change completely
• health changes (mental and physical)