From (De)regulation to Industrialization?

This book elucidates the divergent institutional trajectories of lithium policies across Latin America, highlighting how industrial development of mining activities can emerge in specific extractivist contexts. While focusing primarily on Chile's lithium policy, this research is further enriched by shadow case analyses of Argentina and Bolivia, which reinforce the robustness of the findings. Introducing an original typology of industrial policies associated with lithium, this study argues that the interaction between the state and lithium extraction companies plays a decisive role in shaping public policy. Accordingly, this typology demonstrates its heuristic capacity to analyze green industrialization processes related to lithium. Building on theories of state capacity and business power, this analysis argues that the development of public policies in this sector is influenced not only by the strength of the state but also by the strategic positioning of businesses concerning these policies. Given their pivotal role in natural resource-based economic activities, companies emerge as essential actors in an industrial policy context. This analysis makes a theoretical contribution to state-business relations, engaging with broader debates on green industrial policy within comparative political economy and offering a novel perspective on the topic. Furthermore, the research explores how these processes related to lithium policies intersect with global and local dynamics, particularly concerning the advancement of energy transitions and the socio-environmental conflicts in the affected territories.

Dr. Sebastián Carrasco is an Assistant Professor at the School of Government, Universidad San Sebastián, Chile, and an Associate Researcher with the Max Planck Partner Group "Challenges of Green Growth". He holds a PhD in Public Policy and an MA in Political Science. His research has been published in The Extractive Industries and Society, Competition & Change, ERLACS, among other journals.