This project is an academic collaboration with the UvA Sociology BA programme.

Concept

The Battle for Bits and Atoms is a research-based collaboration project that surfaces the hidden colonial legacies embedded in the global supply chains of precious minerals. Through a structured research process and storytelling practices, the project examines how colonial land seizures, exploitative labour practices, and entrenched economic inequalities continue to shape the extraction of minerals vital for modern technology. The minerals we will explore are Cobalt, Copper, Lithium, Platinum and Nickel. These minerals were chosen as they play a critical role in the transition to renewable energy sources. Therefore, ensuring that the transition doesn’t further reinforce inequalities is crucial to shaping a fairer society.

This programme invites students and those with lived experiences relating to these minerals, to critically unpack the historical injustices tied to the sourcing of minerals. From there, we will imagine pathways for systemic change in the way we source, trade, and consume these resources in light of the energy transition and digital technology.

More details

Objective

To reveal and challenge the persisting colonial structures in the global mining and technology industries by:

• Investigating how historical colonial exploitation continues to shape present-day extraction practices.
• Mapping the contemporary economic and political systems that entrench resource dependency and inequality.
• Surfacing community-led alternatives and initiatives that resist exploitation and imagine alternative futures.
• Providing content that can inspire activism, consumer consciousness, and corporate accountability.

Overview

The foundations for this project will be laid by the bachelor students of Environment & Society, and Dr. Catherine Wong, Department of Sociology, University of Amsterdam. Their critical research will act as a bridge between historical analysis, present-day reflection, and future-facing calls to action. The research on minerals focuses on:

• Colonial Land Seizures: How indigenous lands were appropriated to secure mineral resources.
• Forced Labor and Exploitation: The human cost of colonial and neo-colonial mining systems.
• Trade Networks: The continued pattern of extraction from the Global South and refinement/profit in the Global North.
• Resource Dependency: How Global South nations are locked into export economies, and where opportunities for sovereignty and economic justice lie.
• Economic Violence: How laws, trade agreements, and debt structures reinforce exploitative practices.