Ghosting dynamics in extractive mining ruins: Photographs for a critical geographical reflection

This photo-essay introduces the concept of “ghosting dynamics” to conceptualise the unfinished afterlives of extractive ruins, which host ongoing, unstable and shifting assemblages of people, matter and meaning. Ghosting dynamics describe how certain sites, particularly in extractive economies, linger in ambiguous temporal and material states, alternating between vitality, latency and reuse, no longer fully alive, but never entirely dead. I develop this argument through the case of Chacabuco, a former nitrate town in northern Chile. The images presented trace three moments of partial vitality that illustrate ghosting: i) its rise and decline as a nitrate hub; ii) its reuse as a detention centre during Chile's military dictatorship; and iii) its current reanimation as a precarious heritage site. By visually engaging with Chacabuco's temporal textures, I connect insights from cultural studies, science and technology studies (STS) and economic geography, inviting i) a rethinking of extractive ruins as dynamic socio-territorial formations shaping politics and space in Latin America and ii) a consideration of the value of photography as an illustrative tool for critical thinking about geographical realities.