Standing on the broken ground of resource extraction settings, the state is sometimes like a chimera: its appearance and intentions are misleading and, for some actors, it is unknowable and incomprehensible. It may be easily mistaken for someone or something else, like a mining company, for example.
With rich ethnographic material, this volume tackles critical questions about the nature of contemporary states, studied from the perspective of resource extraction projects in Papua New Guinea, Australia and beyond. It brings together a sustained focus on the unstable and often dialectical relationship between the presence and the absence of the state in the context of resource extraction. Across the chapters, contributors discuss cases of proposed mining ventures, existing large-scale mining operations and the extraction of natural gas. Together, they illustrate how the concept of absent presence can be brought to life and how it can enhance our understanding of the state as well as relations and processes forming in extractive contexts, thus providing a novel contribution to the anthropology of the state and the anthropology of extraction.
Edited by:
Nicholas A. Bainton, Emilia E. Skrzypek Imprint: ANU Press Country of Publication: Australia Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 153mm,
ISBN:9781760464486 ISBN 10: 1760464481 Series:Asia-Pacific Environment Monographs Publication Date:03 August 2021 Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format:Paperback Publisher's Status: Active