From buying out to buying in? Exploring the politics of value creation in green energy transition projects

Investments in critical raw mineral mining and green transition investments (GTIs) are expected to grow substantially worldwide, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. This creates a dilemma: while GTIs are essential to address global climate change, they often break down in the face of community resistance stemming from local people’s superficial inclusion. We argue that GTIs mirror traditional extractivism because they prioritise monetary compensation and accumulation over local communities’ own notions of value. Theoretically, we adopt an economic anthropology perspective on value that includes, as valuable, social identities and relational exchanges that underpin livelihoods. Viewing value through social relations challenges the presently dominant assumption that monetary compensation is a generic or universal measure of worth. We show that the buying out logic of extractivist investments reflects market driven resettlement and compensation schemes. Our analysis of GTIs in Kenya and South Africa demonstrates how diverse local interests and extant socio-political structures expose both the potential and limitations of what such projects can realistically achieve.