Territory and lithium extraction: The Great Land of Lipez and the Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia

The Uyuni salt flat in Bolivia is a strategic location with a vast deposit of lithium; a key mineral for the production of Li-ion batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage. Over time, the Uyuni salt flat has become a space of contestation and grievances over its mineral resources, its territorial limits and for the most ambitious State-led project for lithium extraction and industrialization in Bolivian history. The paper aims to interrogate how notions of space ownership are intertwined with the governance of strategic resources such as lithium. Using qualitative primary data collected in Bolivia between 2014 and 2017, I explore the case of the Uyuni salt flat and the territorial arrangements of the nearby region (southwest region also known as the Land of Lipez). By examining the geo-spatial history, this case, I argue, illustrates geo-spatial delimitations are inherently political, contested and co-produced by the surrounding communities to define forms of access to and control of resources and the territory. The co-production of territory and the governance of its resources produces new spatial and political configurations in which there is a growing tension in terms of the recognition of indigenous land rights in spaces where the extractive frontier is expanding and the State maintains and perpetuates power imbalances in the sphere of decision-making. As this case shows, the history, the struggles over the governance of its resources and the land titling process behind reveal a territorial project in constant making and entangled in a political project to control mining of lithium in Bolivia.