‘Mine the volume’: Excess and the voluminous ecological politics of capitalist frontiers

Collins, Yolanda Ariadne and Reeves-Evison, Theo and Barlow, Matt and Cole, Lydia E.S. (2025) ‘Mine the volume’: Excess and the voluminous ecological politics of capitalist frontiers. Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space. ISSN 2514-8486

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Abstract

Mining frontiers are moving ever further beyond Earth's surface, as new subterranean realms, the seafloor, the atmosphere and outer space increasingly come into the purview of entrepreneurial activity. In this paper, we deploy an environmental governmentality analytic to examine mining as a site-specific, intervening activity that brings the relationship between these different material spaces into view. We recognise that as mining expands through technological advancement ever further beyond its previous terrestrial foundations, it builds on and deepens colonial environmental governance strategies. We argue that as it does so, efforts to govern mining are likely to be increasingly challenged by its ‘excess’, by which we mean the matter that surpasses surficial enclosures and goes on to produce unintended physical and social consequences for other spaces and places. We construct our argument by examining secondary data on mining at three resource frontiers at varying stages of exploitation and associated governance: (i) surface mining during European colonialisation of the Amazon Basin; (ii) ongoing preparations for deep-sea mining in the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone of the Pacific Ocean; and (iii) the prospect of asteroid mining in outer space. Overall, the paper draws attention to the overlapping nature of the planet's voluminous, material spaces and its ability to frustrate environmental governance efforts. It offers a voluminous analysis across material spaces to burgeoning debates within political ecology.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number:	10.1177/25148486251323823
Dates:	Date Event 1 March 2025 Accepted 17 March 2025 Published Online
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Mining, deep sea, outer space, Amazon basin, environmental governmentality, volume
Subjects:	CAH25 - design, and creative and performing arts > CAH25-01 - creative arts and design > CAH25-01-02 - art
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts, Design and Media > College of Art and Design
Depositing User:	Gemma Tonks
Date Deposited:	25 Mar 2025 14:18
Last Modified:	25 Mar 2025 14:18
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/16264

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