Extraction in the Caribbean is rooted in the racially discriminatory history of colonial extractivism, built on ecocide, indigenous dispossession, and the exploitation of non-“white” labour. Within this dynamic, Caribbean nations have been relegated to sacrificial zones of extraction, where they remain trapped in a vicious cycle of debt, dependency, and environmental degradation. Today, the cumulative impact of centuries of colonial and contemporary extractivism presents an existential threat to the Caribbean, including through climate crisis, the destruction of crucial ecosystems, biodiversity loss, and the devastation of traditional livelihoods.

Despite this context, Caribbean governments and global governance institutions continue to push extractivist development as the seemingly inevitable fate for post-colonial societies. There is an urgent need for discourse and action that challenge this doctrine of inevitability and advance alternative paradigms for post-colonial development.

In this webinar, panelists will analyse the concept of extractivism from a decolonial perspective, focusing on the extractivist logics, practices, world views, and normative beliefs that permit the consistent exploitation and devastation of formerly colonised nations, including those in the Caribbean. The discussion will provide multidisciplinary perspectives on the need to build pathways to a future beyond extractivism.

This webinar forms part of Freedom Imaginaries’ webinar and written reflections series, Beyond Extractivism. This webinar is also a special event in the Global Extraction Film Festival 2021 organised by Esther Figueroa (Vagabond Media) and Emiel Martens (Caribbean Creativity).