Escaping Imperialism: Where Does Darth Vader Get His Lithium?

Perhaps no community has undergone more versions of imperialism than the tiny island nation of Nauru, which has morphed from being "Pleasant Island" to the mined-out home of offshore banks, discarded refugees, and deep sea mining interests. Jason, Rob, and Asher take a bad trip to wrap their heads around Nauru, the topic of "psychedelic imperialism," and imperialism's new frontier - the clean energy transition.

Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.

Sources/Links/Notes:

• "A Dark History of the World's Smallest Island Nation" tells the tale of Nauru.
• S.J. Gale, "Lies and misdemeanours: Nauru, phosphate and global geopolitics," The Extractive Industries and Society, vol 6, July 2019.
• FAQs of the Metals Company
• Eric Lipton's New York Times article about imperialistic mining of the Pacific Ocean floor.
• Mining Watch Canada questions the claims of the Metals Company.
• Elham Shabahat's article in Hakai Magazine, "Why Nauru Is Pushing the World Toward Deep-Sea Mining" 
• Definition of imperialism from the Cornell Law School
• J.A. Hobson's book Imperialism: A Study
• Jason Hickel et al., "Imperialist appropriation in the world economy: Drain from the global South through unequal exchange, 1990-2015," Global Environmental Change, vol 73, March 2022.
• Critique of lithium extraction in the Atacama Desert
• Indigenous people's response to lithium mining in Nevada
• How the Sami people are protesting Sweden's "green transformation"
• Episode 3 of the Holding the Fire podcast, featuring Sami leader Aslak Holmberg
• Cobus van Staden on "Green Energy's Dirty Secret: Its Hunger for African Resources"
• Jim Robbins in Yale Environment 360 on "How Returning Lands to Native Tribes Is Helping Protect Nature"
• "Indigenous Land Return Announcement by Sogorea Te’ Land Trust and Movement Generation!" -- article by Ines Ixierda
• "New Zealands's Maori fought for reparations -- and won"

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