Thea Riofrancos on "Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism"

What are the environmental and social costs of the global race to expand the growing industry of green technologies?

Join us for an Elliott Speaker Series event with Thea Riofrancos, Associate Professor of Political Science at Providence College, on her new book Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism (W.W. Norton 2025). Her book provides an in-depth analysis of the growing industry of green technologies and the environmental, social, and political consequences of the mining it requires. Drawing on fieldwork in Chile, Nevada, and Portugal, Professor Riofrancos explores the environmental and social costs of the global race to expand lithium mining amid supply chain concerns and offers compelling ideas for harmonizing climate action with social justice.

About the author

Thea Riofrancos, Associate Professor of Political Science at Providence College, is a Strategic Co-Director of the Climate and Community Institute and a fellow at the Transnational Institute. Her research focuses on resource extraction, climate change, the energy transition, the global lithium sector, green technologies, social movements, and the Latin American left.

About the Elliott Speaker Series

As part of our Elliott Scholars Program, the Roberta Buffett Institute invites scholars and practitioners working in areas related to international development to Northwestern University for short residencies. While on campus, these guests engage with our undergraduate Elliott Scholars and the wider Northwestern community.

Please note that 720 University Place is not an ADA-accessible space. Increasing physical access to buildings and facilities is a goal of the University, but not all buildings and venues have been updated at this time.

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