Abstract
Latin America's commitment to extractive development unifies governments of all political stripes. Recent scholarship describes this common will to extract as a continental extractive consensus. Yet empirical research increasingly shows exceptions to this consensus, citing mining bans, moratoriums and other restrictions to extractive development. Through an examination of El Salvador's historic metal mining ban in 2017, and ongoing commitment to non-metal mining extractivism, this paper examines how these seemingly contradictory trends emerge together. A cross-sectoral analysis of gold, limestone, and sugarcane extractive developments unearths El Salvador's variegated (anti)extractive geographies and highlights the scalar politics inherent in extractive politics. Rather than contradictory, the extractive consensus and alternatives to extractivism mutually constitute one another in El Salvador. Beyond adding theoretical complexity to understandings of extractive development and socio-ecological change more broadly, this analysis highlights the continued struggle over water, livelihoods, and meanings of extractivism in El Salvador.
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