European Research Council Grant for research into forms of resistance to the environmental impact of resource extraction in Africa

Dr Iva Pesa, Assistant Professor of History at the Faculty of Arts (University of Groningen) has been awarded an European Researcg Council (ERC) Grant of €1,500,000 for the AFREXTRACT research on cultural and political responses to environmental change.

Resource extraction has caused devastating effects all over the world. Yet the reactions to these consequences are very different. Dr Iva Pesa looks for an answer to the question of why the environmental changes caused by mining and oil extraction in Africa have provoked such different reactions. In her research, she looks at three emblematic localities of large-scale industrial resource extraction in sub-Saharan Africa: oil drilling in Nigeria, copper mining in Zambia, and gold mining in South Africa. Using local literary works and songs, and paying particular attention to forms of popular political mobilisation, the project sheds light on the lived experiences of environmental transformation in Africa.

ERC Grant

With the personal grant of €1,500,000, the ERC encourages talented young researchers in Europe to start an independent research project and set up a research team. An ERC grant enables researchers to initiate bold, groundbreaking research and break new grounds in their field.

Read more about Dr Iva Pesa.