Más Allá del Extractivismo: Cine, Minería y Materialismos en América Latina

This dissertation, Beyond Extractivism: Cinema, Mining, and Materialisms in Latin America, begins by proposing a distinct definition of “Latin American mining cinema” as an interdisciplinary field encompassing documentaries, feature films, animation, and experimental works centered on mining activities throughout the region. It examines how cinema engages with extractivist mining practices, exploring their social, cultural, economic, and environmental impacts, as well as the labor conditions of miners, the daily lives of surrounding communities, and the history, narratives, and representations of mining in the Latin American context. Chapter Two offers a historical overview of twentieth-century Latin American mining cinema, analyzing key works such as Memories of Mine El Teniente (1919), Facing Tomorrow (1962), Salt of the Earth (1954), The Courage of the People (1971), Acts of Marusia (1975), Now, We Have to Win (1978), and Ghosts in Patagonia (1997). Drawing on Michel Foucault’s concept of biopolitical control, as well as the notions of Third Cinema and militant cinema, these films illustrate the evolution of mining representations, from industrial and propagandistic narratives to politically charged critiques of state violence, culminating in the mining cinema of the 1990s. This latter period begins to tackle issues of capitalism and globalization, which take center stage in twenty-first-century mining cinema, examined in subsequent chapters through various perspectives and theoretical frameworks. Chapter Three explores contemporary cinema’s engagement with the body and biopolitics —encompassing both individual bodies and the concept of territory as body— by examining gendered labor, Indigenous activism, and non-human agency. Films such as Women of the Mine (2014), Gold or Life (2011), and Mother Earth’s Inner Organs (2022) draw on Indigenous communal feminism, theories of territorial dispossession, geontology, and the concept of “terminal landscapes.” In Mother Earth’s Inner Organs, non-human terrestrial entities are granted a voice by possessing human bodies, thereby protesting the imbalances caused by the mining industry. Collectively, these films reveal how extractive economies regulate bodies and territories while also highlighting strategies of resistance founded on collective action, Indigenous identity and non-human agencies. Chapter Four examines high-profile mining disasters transformed into media spectacles, particularly the 2010 San José mine accident in Chile. Using George Ritzer’s concept of the “McDonaldization of culture,” it analyzes the Hollywood film The 33 (2015) and the government-produced documentary 33 to illustrate how such events are commercialized or employed for nationalist agendas, frequently eclipsing the miners’ perspectives and state accountability. Chapter Five addresses the Argentine documentary In the Name of Lithium (2021) through concepts such as hyperobjects, transcultural materialism, and “climate lyricism.” It interrogates green capitalism discourses, scientific analyses, and the lived realities of Indigenous communities, demonstrating how cinema can foster ecological awareness and emotional resonance amid extractive pressures. Ultimately, the dissertation highlights the central role of mining cinema in exposing social inequities, shaping public opinion, and fostering collective action. As an accessible medium with extensive reach and emotional resonance, mining cinema can reshape public perceptions, ignite meaningful debate, and inspire collective efforts to reform mining industry practices. By bridging the gap between viewers and affected communities, it amplifies marginalized voices and encourages a critical examination of potential pathways toward a more equitable, ethical, and sustainable future for the people, communities, and ecosystems impacted by mining extractivism.