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“Serbia’s lithium dilemma”? Exploring the construction of legitimacy in the stage of pre-extraction debate and public contestation

Poplawska, Kaja LU (2025) SGED10 20251
Human Geography
Department of Human Geography
Abstract
The lithium extraction sites are rapidly expanding to meet the rising demand for lithium-ion batteries, primarily for electric vehicles and renewable energy storage. Serbia has emerged as a key European frontier due to the country’s significant lithium reserves, particularly in the Jadar region. This thesis critically examines how the controversial Jadar lithium mining project is discursively legitimized in the documentary “Not in My Country” – a film co-developed and financed by the University of Leuven (KU Leuven). The study utilizes critical discourse analysis to explore how discourse sustains a hegemonic view of sustainability by legitimizing extractive practices. Grounded in a critical realist epistemology and informed by theories of... (More)
The lithium extraction sites are rapidly expanding to meet the rising demand for lithium-ion batteries, primarily for electric vehicles and renewable energy storage. Serbia has emerged as a key European frontier due to the country’s significant lithium reserves, particularly in the Jadar region. This thesis critically examines how the controversial Jadar lithium mining project is discursively legitimized in the documentary “Not in My Country” – a film co-developed and financed by the University of Leuven (KU Leuven). The study utilizes critical discourse analysis to explore how discourse sustains a hegemonic view of sustainability by legitimizing extractive practices. Grounded in a critical realist epistemology and informed by theories of power/knowledge and discourse, the study identifies four dominant discursive strategies: the construction of scientific objectivity, the delegitimization of resistance, the scapegoating of Serbia’s current political leadership, and the normalization of extractivism. These strategies work together to produce a narrow, technocratic vision of green transition as an inevitable necessity while silencing resistance and foreclosing alternative perspectives on sustainability. The findings underscore the importance of moving away from resource-intensive energy and transportation systems in order to reduce environmental and social harm. (Less)
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author
Poplawska, Kaja LU
supervisor
organization
course
SGED10 20251
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
green extractivism, commodity frontiers, power, hegemony, knowledge production
language
English
id
9194354
date added to LUP
2025-06-16 10:50:02
date last changed
2025-06-16 10:50:02
@misc{9194354,
  abstract     = {{The lithium extraction sites are rapidly expanding to meet the rising demand for lithium-ion batteries, primarily for electric vehicles and renewable energy storage. Serbia has emerged as a key European frontier due to the country’s significant lithium reserves, particularly in the Jadar region. This thesis critically examines how the controversial Jadar lithium mining project is discursively legitimized in the documentary “Not in My Country” – a film co-developed and financed by the University of Leuven (KU Leuven). The study utilizes critical discourse analysis to explore how discourse sustains a hegemonic view of sustainability by legitimizing extractive practices. Grounded in a critical realist epistemology and informed by theories of power/knowledge and discourse, the study identifies four dominant discursive strategies: the construction of scientific objectivity, the delegitimization of resistance, the scapegoating of Serbia’s current political leadership, and the normalization of extractivism. These strategies work together to produce a narrow, technocratic vision of green transition as an inevitable necessity while silencing resistance and foreclosing alternative perspectives on sustainability. The findings underscore the importance of moving away from resource-intensive energy and transportation systems in order to reduce environmental and social harm.}},
  author       = {{Poplawska, Kaja}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{“Serbia’s lithium dilemma”? Exploring the construction of legitimacy in the stage of pre-extraction debate and public contestation}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}