Nina Djukanović

"Green Are Fields, Not Mines": The Case of Lithium Mining and Resistance in Serbia

Nina is an environmental geographer whose research examines the relationship between extractivism, environmental justice, and contested understandings of sustainability and green transition.

In her current research, she focuses on the case study of lithium mining in Serbia. Her project is an ethnographic investigation of the lived experiences of local communities affected by the prospect of lithium mining. She explores the relationship the locals have with the land, the local memories and histories, as well as knowledge controversies surrounding the potential toxicity of the mining project, all of which inform their resistance to lithium mining. Lithium and other critical minerals are essential for green technologies such as electric vehicles. Through her research, she seeks to address the largely neglected forms of harm that global climate change strategies based on green extractivism hold. At the heart of her research are thus questions of how to create futures in the Anthropocene that are just, and what alternatives to the growth-based extractivism can be imagined.

Nina graduated with a distinction from the MPhil in Nature, Society and Environmental Governance in the School of Geography and the Environment where she began researching environmental activism against lithium mining in Serbia. She holds a BASc (Hons, First Class) in Arts and Sciences from the University College London. Her undergraduate dissertation investigated international interventions in response to environmental concerns, looking at the case study of the 2019 Amazon forest fires.

Nina welcomes potential collaborators such as academics, artists, journalists, activists or anyone interested in similar issues. They are invited to get in touch by emailing her at nina.djukanovic@ouce.ox.ac.uk

• Djukanović, N. (forthcoming) How Does an Extractivist Frontier Come to Being? The Case of Lithium Mining in Serbia. East European Politics and Societies.
• Djukanović, N. (2022) “Green Are Fields, Not Mines”: The Case of Lithium Mining and Resistance in Serbia. University of Oxford.

Conference Papers

• Djukanović, N. (2023) The Geopolitics of Green Extractivism in Serbia. Paper presented in the 'The politics of nature and landscapes in South East Europe' panel at the British International Studies Association (BISA) 2023 conference. Glasgow, UK.
• Djukanović, N. (2023). How Does an Extractivist Frontier Come to Being? The Case of Lithium Mining in Serbia. Paper presented at the Alternative Futures and Popular Protest 2023 conference, University of Manchester. Manchester, UK.
• Djukanović, N. (2022). “Green are fields, not mines”: Lithium Mining and Resistance in Serbia. Paper presented at the Energy transition and environmental contestation in the Balkans conference, Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade. Belgrade, Serbia.