“Serbia’s lithium dilemma”? Exploring the construction of legitimacy in the stage of pre-extraction debate and public contestation
(2025) SGED10 20251Human 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)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9194354
- author
- Poplawska, Kaja LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SGED10 20251
- year
- 2025
- 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}}, }