Mining Emotions: Affective Approaches to Resource Extraction

Within the field of resource extraction there is consensus that emotions should be avoided. We are constantly reminded that mining discussions should be based on facts and rational arguments rather than let the emotions prevail. In this chapter we argue that this is a false dichotomy. Without hope, potentiality and engagement the minerals will stay in the ground. Thus, mining not only relies upon the mobilization of emotions but also fosters emotions, which support certain discourses and narratives while silencing other. The concept of ‘mining emotion’ is thus double. It allows us to point at the emotional work and practices associated with mining, as well as the negotiations and translations that take place in a highly contested setting with different and possibly contrasting emotions. The chapter presents research within REXSAC, which contributes a focus on mining activities as deeply entangled in human affects. Drawing on the so-called “emotional turn” in the social sciences, we investigate how affects and emotions as cultural practices empower discourses that connect (or disconnect) resource extraction with community making and nation building. Our analyzes are based on studies and field work in Greenland and Sápmi in Northern Scandinavia.