Lithium

Clicks: 10
ID: 328652
2026
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
Emerging

Ranked #1,572 of 1,787 articles by views in Oxford University Press eBooks

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 1,787 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
Abstract This chapter explores the materialities and socio-ecological impacts of lithium mining, focusing on the Argentina-Bolivia-Chile triangle. As the lightest metal in the periodic table and with a very high charge storage per unit of mass, lithium has given its name to the dominant high-performance battery, the Lithium-ion battery. The ‘lithium boom’ has had mixed effects on individuals and communities within the ‘lithium triangle’, reflecting their diverse place-based and historically grounded life-worlds, aspirations, concerns, and access to opportunities. The main concerns among Indigenous communities have included the impacts of water withdrawals and financial windfalls. The chapter also discusses the case of the Thacker Pass mining project, which is heavily supported by the US ‘onshoring extractive consensus’ and its billions of dollars in subsidies despite protests and lawsuits by some Indigenous communities and local farmers. It points out that lithium highlights the cultural and political continuity between what scholars have termed petro-cultures and emerging electro-cultures. While oil and gas historically shaped high-consumption, car-dependent, and urbanized societies, the electrification of mobility and energy systems is largely following the same trajectories, with limited attention to reducing overall material and energy demand.
Reference Key
openalex_W7213454296 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Philippe Le Billon
Are you one of these authors? Claim your profile
Journal Oxford University Press eBooks
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/oso/9780197873434.003.0007
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197873434.003.0007
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.