Neo-extractivism and ‘sustainable’ construction: two faces of financialized capitalism¹

Abstract

This article investigates how extractivism, operated in colonial territories, enabled the worldwide consolidation and expansion of the capitalist system, the viability of which has continued through to the present day. In order to illustrate our arguments, we have used the example of mining. We then move on to indicate the existing complicity between the construction sector, which involves the practice of architecture, and global capitalism, based on the production of commodities for export. We also demonstrate how belief in the eco-efficiency of ‘green’ technologies and buildings masks the externalization of socio-environmental impacts generated by hegemonic production processes, such as those that are part of the iron and steel production chain (materials we widely use in civil construction). Lastly, we analyze the emblematic case of the Piquiá de Baixo community (Brazil), through which the problems presented in this work may be better explained.

Keywords:
Colonization; Neoextractivism; Mining; Civil Construction; Architecture; Sustainability