New Extractivism? New Right-Wing Politics and Natural Resource Governance in Argentina

An FAU-CHREN Colloquium with Mariano Novas

25 November 2026, 6:15-7:30 pm

Abstract

This presentation examines how the rise of new right- wing political forces is transforming natural resource governance in Latin America. While resource extraction has historically played a central role in the region’s development strategies, the current political shift raises new questions about the role of the state, socio-environmental regulation, and the capacity of communities to influence decisions affecting their human rights and territories. The presentation focuses on Argentina under Javier Milei’s government, examining the Large Investment Incentive Regime (RIGI) and the expansion of mining and fracking in a context of increasingly flexible social, labor, and environmental regulations. The reform of the Glacier Law provides an opportunity to examine how these transformations reshape the protection to the human right to, a healthy environment, to social participation, and the role of scientific institutions in decision-making processes. Finally, the presentation examines how mining companies respond to this new institutional context and asks what these transformations mean for corporate accountability and Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD).

 Speaker’s Bio

Mariano Novas is a Postdoctoral Fellow at CONICET and a researcher and lecturer in Political Science at the National University of San Martín (UNSAM), Argentina. He is currently a Guest Researcher at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), where he collaborates with the *Corporate Accountability in Global Supply Chains* project. His research focuses on natural resource governance, environmental conflicts, critical minerals, and the relationships between states, companies, and communities in Latin America. His current research examines critical mineral governance and its connections to corporate accountability and Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence.

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If you are planning to attend, please reserve a place by email to  ben.graubner@fau.de.

We hope to see you at the event and would, of course, be happy to respond to any queries directed to the convenors or the Colloquia, janina.heaphy@fau.de and eva.m.pils@fau.de  or to humanrights@fau.de.