Transnational companies in environmental conflicts: Rio Tinto, anti-mining resistance in Serbia, and the contradictions of Europeanization

Abstract

AbstractAfter decades of outsourcing mining activities, Global North governments have begun to domesticate production sites. This strategy aligns with decarbonization goals but also contributes to the emergence of new environmental conflicts and protest movements. The analysis of these movements provides an important insight into the changing shape of transnational rule in the context of resource extraction for the European Green Deal. Building on the approach to reconstruct rule from resistance, we reconstruct the anti-mining resistance movement against a lithium mine in Serbia. Tracing their tactics and addressees, we identify three main conflict actors that the movement is opposed to (the transnational mining company Rio Tinto, the Serbian government, and the European Union (EU)). By addressing these institutions, the protesters do not only constitute a multifaceted conflict constellation around the Jadar project, but they also submit an argument about who can and who is allowed to dictate to others how they ought to behave. While all involved parties play their part, the EU appears more as a structural force during the conflict, preconfiguring the possible conduct of others. Particularly, the accession process places contradictory expectations on Serbia, both enabling and restricting the agency of the government and domestic protest movements. Yet, transnational companies are likely profiting from this constellation in the long run, because the inbuilt contradiction between a commitment to green policies and a pressure to open markets to foreign investments in the context of the accession process is conducive to that end.