Rare earths, such as copper and lead, make possible the miniaturization of electronics, green energy and medical technologies, and essential telecommunications and defense systems. But where are they extracted from? And at what environmental cost? Professor Julie Klinger joins us to discuss her award winning book, Rare Earth Frontiers: From Terrestrial Subsoils to Lunar Landscapes, which documents how the search for rare earths can provide a pretext for the expansion of territorial control in forbidding locations including the Amazon, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and even the Moon.
You can view a free digital copy of Klinger’s book here.
Julie Michelle Klinger holds a PhD in Geography from the University of California, Berkeley. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences at the University of Delaware and faculty in the Minerals, Materials, and Society Program.
At UD, Dr. Klinger teaches World Regional Geography and Resources, Development, and Environment.
Rare Earth Frontiers won the Association of American Geographers Meridian Book Award for Outstanding Scholarly Work in Geography.
Rare Earth Frontiers could easily become the go-to reference for policymakers concerned with the global politics of rare earths. I could envision this book being adopted in courses offered in the disciplines of material science, political science, economics, political anthropology, geography, and sociology. I very much became engrossed in the fieldwork stories, which helped to put a human face on this topic.
– Ryan Kiggins, coeditor of The Political Economy of Rare Earth Elements
Special thanks to the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, the Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies Program (LACIS) and the Geography Department at UW-Madison for co-sponsoring this event.
