THE TRUE COST OF TECHNOLOGY: DOUBLE EXTRACTIVISM AND GREEN CRIMINOLOGY IN SERBIA

Complete work in pdf

Author/s: Ivana Stepanović, PhD,

Pages: 25-37
UDK: 343.3/.7:[504.12:502.7(497.11)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.47152/rkkp.60.1.2

Abstract: The so­called green transition that relies on battery­powered technology dramatically raises demands for lithium and other minerals. The same resources are used to produce batteries for phones, computers, electric cars, and other devices with internet connectivity that simultaneously extract personal data. While research projects in natural sciences warn of ecological and human health implications of extracting minerals, social sciences emphasise the dangers of electronic transparency. The true cost of green transition and digitalisation turns out to be very high, especially because these processes are based on the extraction of both material resources and behavioural data. This paper argues that the mining of lithium and other minerals is not a local or national issue, but rather an international concern. Using concept analysis and digital ethnography, it analyses lithium mining narratives in Serbia and challenges the idea of “green transition” with notions of double extractivism and digital and green criminology.

Keywords: technology, extractivism, lithium, green criminology, digital criminology.

References:
− A European Green Deal: ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en, accessed on 17.02.2022. − Ádám, B, Göen, T., Scheepers, P. T. J., Adliene, D., Batinic, B., Budnik, L. T., Duca, R., Ghosh, M., Giurgiu, D. I., Godderis, L., Goksel, O., Hansen, K. K., Kassomenos, P., Milic, N., Orru, H., Paschalidou, A., Petrovic, M., Puiso, J., Radonic, J., Sekulic, M. T., Teixeira, J. P., Zaid, H., Au, W. W. (2021) From inequitable to sustainable e-waste processing for reduction of impact on human health and the environment. Environmental Research, 194, doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2021.110728 − Ankit, L. S., Kumar, V., Tiwari, J., Sweta, S., R., Singh, J., Bauddh, K. (2021) Electronic waste and their leachates impact on human health and environment: Global ecological threat and management, Environmental Technology & Innovation, 24, doi: 10.1016/j.eti.2021.102049 − Artificial Intelligence Act, eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52021PC0206, accessed on 17. 02. 2022. − Chagnon, W. C., Hagolani-Albov, Hokkanen, S. (2021) Extractivism at Your Fingertips. In: Shapiro, J. and McNeish, J. (eds.) Our Extractive Age: Expressions of Violence and Resistance. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 176-189 − Chaves, C., Pereira, E., Ferreira, P., Guerner Dias, A. (2021) Concerns about lithium extraction: A review and application for Portugal. The Extractive Industries and Society 8(3), doi: 10.1016/j.exis.2021.100928 − Couldry, N., Mejias, U. A. (2021) The decolonial turn in data and technology research: what is at stake and where is it heading?, Information, Communication & Society, pp. 1-17, doi: 10.1080/1369118X.2021.1986102 − Digital Services Act, eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/TXT/?uri=COM%3A2020%3A825%3AFIN, accessed on 17. 02. 2022. − Duffy, E. B., Pinch, A., Sannon, S., Sawey, M. (2021). The Nested Precarities of Creative Labour on Social Media. Social Media + Society 7(2) doi: 10.1177/20563051211021368. − Dyer-Witheford, N. (2015). Cyber - Proletariat: Global Labour in the Digital Wortex. London:Pluto Press. − Fuchs, C. (2014). Digital Labour and Karl Marx. New York and Oxon: Routledge. − Gerbaudo, P. (2012). Tweets and the Streets: Social Media and Contemporary Activism. London and New York: Pluto Press. − Haritha, J., Rameswari, R., Reakaa, S. D. (2021) A Study on Speech Emotion Prediction using Deep Learning Algorithm. Smart Technologies, Communication and Robotics (STCR), pp. 1-5, doi: 10.1109/STCR51658.2021.9588861 − Hernandez-Morales, A., Diogo Mateus, S. (2021) Portugal to scrap lithium mining project, Politico: www.politico.eu/article/portugal-lithium-mining-project-scrap, accessed on 17.02.2022. − Horvat, S. (2021) Posle apokalipse. Belgrade: Laguna − Klaib, A., Alsrehin, N. O., Melhem, W. Y., Bashtawi, H. O., Magableh, A. A. (2021) Eye tracking algorithms, techniques, tools, and applications with an emphasis on machine learning and internet of things technologies. Expert Systems with Applications, 166, doi: 10.1016/j.eswa.2020.114037 − Lefiker, M., Lincoln, S., Sänger, K., Hilbig, S., Müller, A. (2018) The white gold. Environemental and social conflicts over the future of raw material lithium. Evangelisches Werk für Diakonie und Entwicklung e.V., Berlin, Germany. Brot für die Welt. inis.iaea.org/search/search.aspx?orig_q=RN:50018797, accessed on 17.02.2022. − Lunch, M. J., Long, M. A. (2021) Green Criminology: Capitalism, Green Crime and Justice, and Environmental Destruction. Annual Review of Crminology, 5, pp. 255-276, doi: 10.1146/annurev-criminol-030920-114647 − Ministarstvo rudarstva i energetike, www.mre.gov.rs/lat/aktuelnosti/vesti/projekat-„jadar“-razvojna-sansa--odluka-kad-se-zavrse-sve-studije-i-gradjani-iznesu-svoj-stav, accessed on 17. 02. 2022. − Nosthoff, A., Maschewski, F. (2022, forthcomming), Überwachungskapitalistische Biopolitik: Big Tech und die Regierung der Körper. Zeitschrift Für Politikwisswenschaft. philpapers.org/rec/NOSBBB, accessed on 17.02.2022. − Nova S (21. 01. 2022.) Bojana Novaković: Tek sam počela, borba za prirodu se nastavlja, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-VdNVpknPE&list=PLZXr2RpggkrydaN61S8j8zx6DyBc22PgX&index=16, accessed on 17. 02. 2022 − Pavlović, A., Ivanišević, A., Katić, I., Lošonc, A., Radišić, M. (2021) The effect of solid waste management investments in the Republic of Serbia. The Annals of the Faculty of Economic in Subotica, 57(45), doi: 10.5937/AnEkSub2145133P − Ristić, R., Malušević, I., Nešković, P., Novaković, A., Polovina, S., Milčanović, V. (2021) Spatial Degradation within the ’Jadar’ Project. www.banktrack.org/download/spatial_degradation_within_the_jadar_project/ristic_et_al__sanu_eng_2021_1.pdf , accessed on 17. 02. 2022. − Rožnik, A. (2020) Electrical and Electronic Waste Trading Cases in Slovenia and the Necessity for Prevention. In: Meško, G., Shapland, J., Groenemeyer, A., Gayet-Viaud, C. (eds.) Challenges of Comparative Criminological Research, GERN Research Paper Series No.6. Antwerpen, Apeldoorn and Portland: Maklu Publishers, pp. 185-218 − Sadowski, J. (2020) Too Smart: How Digital Capitalism is Extracting Data, Controlling our Lives, and Taking Over the World. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England: The MIT Press − Scott, N. (2020) Extractivism: Socio-Legal Approaches to Relations with Lands and Resources. In: Handbook of Law and Society, https://ssrn.com/abstract=3723939, doi: 10.2139/ssrn.3723939 − South, N. (2021) “Zelena kriminologija – ponovno o refleksijama, povezanostima i horizontima”. Crimen 12(2), pp. 113-131, doi: 10.5937/crimen2102113S − Sustainable Development Goals: sdgs.un.org/goals, accessed on 17.02.2022. − Taffel, S. (2021) Data and oil: Metaphor, materiality and metabolic rifts. New Media and Society doi:10.1177/14614448211017887 − The Kyoto Protocol: unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-kyoto-protocol/history-of-the-kyoto-protocol/text-of-the-kyoto-protocol (Accessed: 17.02.2022.) − The Paris Agreement: unfccc.int/files/meetings/paris_nov_2015/application/pdf/paris_agreement_english_.pdf (Accessed: 17.02.2022.) − Trpeski, P., Šmelcerović, M., Jarevski, T. (2021) The Impact of Lithium Mines on the Environment. Knowledge – International Journal 46(3), pp. 455-458 − Willow, A. J. (2019) Understanding Extractivism: Culture and Power in Natural Resource Disputes. London and New York: Routledge − Zeigler, L., Sturman, O., Bohacek, J. (2021) Big behaviour: challenges and opportunities in a new era of deep behaviour profiling. Neuropsychopharmacology, 46, pp. 33-44.