Issue #2 – FRONTIERS
The idea of the frontier is contested: a border, a terra nullius, a site of struggle. In our second Issue, our writers approach to the idea of frontiers in the climate crisis from many perspectives, sending reports from the frontlines of extractive industries, exploring new avenues of risk and resistance, and showing, in the words of contributor Thea Riofrancos, how frontiers are “never exhausted by the economic and political imperatives that designate them as such. They exceed them.”
Contributors
Introducing Issue #2: Frontiers
Adrienne Buller, John Merrick
In the trade-offs between decarbonization and human and ecological impact, how do we determine which costs are bearable, or inescapable, even necessary—and who gets to make these decisions?
•5 min read
Where Capital and Nature Meet
Thea Riofrancos
Thea Riofrancos speaks to The BREAK—DOWN about the rise of the lithium industry, the geopolitics of extraction, and the frontiers of green capitalism.
•1 min read
The Sunlight Managers
Sofia Menemenlis
Science deploys the language of objectivity while evading questions about the social relations that underlie the climate crisis. In doing so, it grants legitimacy to a radically dangerous idea: solar geoengineering.
•1 min read
Lula's Dilemma
Sabrina Fernandes
In Brazil, big agri-business holds the reins of political power. Without confronting this head-on, Lula’s ecological promises will remain just that—promises.
•1 min read
Resistance on the Attawapiskat
Omar Ferwati, Nessie Nankivell
In northern Ontario, a region rich in mineral deposits has become a frontline in the fights for Indigenous sovereignty and against extraction.
•1 min read
Against the Fortress
Nathan Akehurst
“Climate migration” defies clear definition, but as the impacts of climate change mount and politicians stoke anti-migrant hostility, the climate movement must meet this challenge head on.
•1 min read
An Invisible Frontier
Ben Lennon
The greatest obstacle for the energy transition is not production or hard physical constraints—it is the skilled labour needed to transform our infrastructure and economy.
•1 min read
Merging to Survive
Ashok Kumar
As the fossil fuel industry consolidates into a ever smaller number of vast firms, new strategic openings for disruption emerge.
•1 min read
Then Where Will We Live
Garry Lotulung
In Indonesia, nickel mining is booming as global demand for batteries surges. Photojournalist Garry Lotulung captures how the industry's impacts—on workers, on communities and on nature—are deeply felt.
•1 min read
After the Thaw
Jacob Bolton
As temperatures rise and the Arctic thaws, capital is eyeing new opportunities: for extraction, for shipping and for extending a lifeline to business as usual.
•1 min read
The Desert and the Mine
Sam Meadows
The Lithium Triangle, spanning Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, contains over half the world’s lithium reserves, essential for the energy transition. But mining here is fraught with human, cultural, political and ecological questions.
•1 min read
Bog Communism
Roisin Agnew
Ireland’s bogs were degraded by industrial exploitation. Today, they play host to a growing network of data centres. Can we reclaim them as commons, and restore their value—cultural, social and ecological—outside of capital’s logic?