Mining out of the crisis? The role of the state in the expansion of the lithium frontier in Extremadura, Spain

Abstract

The increasing demand for transition minerals, such as lithium, to decarbonize energy and transportation systems has led to the emergence of new mining projects within the Global North. This paper explores the role of state actors in the contested expansion of the lithium frontier in Europe, using the Spanish region of Extremadura as a case study. It combines historical-materialist policy analysis and politics of scale to examine how state actors at multiple scales of regulation promote domestic lithium mining through legislative and non-legislative initiatives. The paper also investigates the discursive legitimizations of expanding the lithium frontier in Extremadura, highlighting how state authorities produce and refer to various “scales of meaning" (Towers, 2000) to discursively legitimate a green capitalist mode of crisis regulation. The analysis demonstrates the crucial role of state actors in shaping conflicts around lithium mining in Extremadura and contributes to the emerging literature on green extractivism and lithium onshoring in the Global North.