LIST OF PANELS

The term "extractivism" is a concept that is now making its way not only in associative and committed discourses, but also in scientific analyzes. Eventhough extrativism is not yet very popular in political science. It designates a specific mode of wealth accumulation, based on activities that extract large quantities of natural resources that are not transformed (or which are only transformed to a small extent) mainly intended for exportation (Bednik, 2015 , 2016; Acosta, 2013; Svampa, 2011). Extractivism is not limited only to minerals or oil, it also concerns large hydroelectric projects, industrial agriculture, forest monocultures, intensive fishing. The limitless appetite of the productivist mega machine has made extractivism an activity cut off from reality and  indifferent to its destructive effects for people, biodiversity and the safeguard of the Earth system. The originality of this thematic axis is based on both the privileged themes and on the interdisciplinarity of the approach envisaged, which encourages dialogue between political science and the various disciplines of the human and social sciences; philosophy, sociology, economic science, law, history, anthropology and geography.

We specifically analyze the politicization of extractivism in Central Africa, in particular  conflict areas around major mining projects (Barka, 2019). In doing so, we seek to cross the temporalities and scales of action of the various actors involved. The panel therefore wants to highlight a certain number of tensions that exist between extractive agencies (with a view to development) and sustainability in the setting in motion of extractive policies, but also the complexity of the temporalities to which the actors claim, which overlap and sometimes contradict each other and can be a source of conflict.

This panel seeks to study analyze the politicization of extractivism in Central Africa, through four axes:

1. Resources: places, objects, media conflict

Mineral deposits, rivers, forests are both zones wherein conflicts can easily arise and also bring about the object of a conflict. They lend themselves to instrumentalization and serve as a support to stage conflicts, the stakes of which lays elsewhere. The way in which an exploitable resource can be set up as an emblem of a cause to be defended, or the place which is granted to it when it is the site of a conflict or the way in which mobilizations uses them as arguments to fuel their cause will be questioned. It is a question of considering the place or even the role attributed to the exploitable resource in mobilizations; whose social, cultural, economic or political issues are linked to the presence of various actors.

2. Conflicts of rights of usage and their effects on the social environment of resource extraction

This entry examines exploitation or extraction conflicts, in reality conflicts of usage, around antagonistic activities and quarrels between different users who defend their private interests. We are particularly interested in the most resounding and harsh sets of these conflicts, those which concern clashes between private interests and general interest. It is understood that these conflicts involve a multitude of protagonists, who, directly or indirectly, also intervene in the structuring of the mobilizations: mines, rivers, trees, animals, industrialists, residents of extraction areas, experts, etc. journalists or anonymous can thus cross paths with discussions and debates. How do these different actors meet, do they argue? The contributions will make it possible to draw up a panorama of the games of alliances that unfold behind the conflict. How are private, individual, public or collective interests deployed there?

3. Staging and the visibility of forestry conflicts

Forest conflictuality can unfold on a large scale through a strong mobilization that finds a large media audience, or remain more localized, or even hold an isolated act of resistance motivated by an individual commitment. Alongside the visible or even spectacular events, there are therefore also discreet conflicts, perceptible through criminal acts that challenge the judicial sphere or individual commitments in favor of atypical mode of management. The exploration of this entry will relate both to the analysis of forest mobilizations carried out within the framework of emblematic areas to be defended or through the follow-up given to crimes but also to their dissemination, whether through the media, literature or the cinema.

4. What extracting resources means ...

The “new” national and international extraction regulations promote transparency on the importance of extraction income, on its distribution and allocation between extraction actors (including local populations), at international scales, regional, national and at the local level. We invite scholars from to propose papers on the effects of these “new” regulations