Workshop: Civilizing Resource Investments and Extractive Industries
September 22, 2016 | 09:00 h - September 23, 2016 | 18:00 h
ZEF and the Ghanaian-German Center for Development Research (GGCDS) cordially invite you to a jointly organized workshop on
Civilizing Resource Investments and Extractive Industries: Societal Negotiations and the Role of Law
Date: September 22-‐23, 2016
Venue: Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn, Walter-Flex-Straße 3, room 1.049
Invited experts:
- <link www.future-agricultures.org/about-fac/members/userprofile/Kojo%20Amanor>
Prof. Dr. Kojo Amanor</link> (Anthropologist, University of Ghana)- <link www.wi.hs-wismar.de/de/personen_ausstattung/professoren/view/d/contact_6/about>
Prof. Dr. Friederike Diaby-Pentzlin</link> (Legal Scholar, University for Applied Sciences Wismar)- Gustavo Gazzinelli (Councilor, State Council of Water Resources, Minas Gerais, Brazil, tbc)
-
<link www.ub.edu/dret/professor/ang/antoniomadrid.ub.edu.html>
Prof. Dr. Antonio Madrid</link> (Legal Scholar, University of Barcelona)-
<link www.researchgate.net/profile/Bruno_Milanez>
Dr. Bruno Milanez</link> (Industrial Engineer, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Brazil)You can find more information about the speakers in the concept note below.
Please register with us if you would like to attend the panel discussion with <link wlaube(at)uni-bonn.de - mail "Opens window for sending email">wlaube@uni-bonn.de</link>.
Background:
The accelerating global scramble for natural resources has continued to push the accumulation of land and other natural resources to ever new frontiers, especially the ‘global south’. Increasing investments in the ‘global south’ were driven by the availability of resources and the increased profitability of investments in ‘risky’ environments. Investments in the rather weak institutional and regulatory context of ‘developing’ countries seemed to be easier to implement and more profitable than under the highly regulated conditions in the ‘developed’ world.
The tendency to ignore the environmental and social externalities of large investments in resources in the ‘global south’ has long been criticized and opposed by activists. Local activism and international campaigns have raised public awareness in the global north and political advocacy as well. Resource accumulation and extraction has also given rise to a vivid academic debate about the impact of investments as well as effective strategies to oppose, control and steer investments in order to prevent or mitigate negative impacts.
The workshop seeks to contribute to the ongoing debate in two ways: On the one hand, it tries to understand, how investments and resource extraction are negotiated in societies in the ‘global south’. On the other hand, we want to discuss processes of legislation and regulation, but also the ways laws and rules are unmade or circumvented, and citizen and environmental rights become emptied in the legal and administrative field.
About the workshop:
This workshop has an interdisciplinary set-up by bringing together social and political scientists, engineers, and legal scholars. In addition, it takes a trans-regional perspective with contributions from Africa, Latin America, Asia, and Europe.
