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| Copper floatation process, Rio Tinto, Mongolia |
Similarly, the extraction of copper from raw materials involves complex technologies, machines, and intricate processes—one of which is froth flotation, which the speaker referred to as "magic." This seemingly innocent and provocative statement has deeper implications, particularly when compared to the religious or ritual practices that anthropology has often labeled as "magic." For instance, the Tohono O'odham's rain ceremonies or the Pueblo sun races are considered forms of sympathetic magic.
I propose that, although indigenous and modern practices stem from entirely different metaphysical frameworks, they are not so different in some crucial ways. In this context, magic is not a superstitious attempt to influence weather patterns or animal behavior unscientifically. Instead, these practices were essential socio-political-cultural-technological processes through which people produced and reproduced the fabric of their culture and reality.
Copper mining, on the other hand, differs in key ways. It does not operate within a network of entangled relationships and dependencies in its environment, as indigenous practices do. Instead, it feeds the accelerating demand for surplus energy production. It is well known that the average American household consumes energy at a rate that would require 5.1 Earths, or 8.1 global hectares, to sustain if everyone lived that way. These numbers are even higher in the suburbs of Arizona near the Resolution Copper mine. However, the immense burden this lifestyle places on life, land, and water cannot be easily seen or heard—it is outsourced, much of it to the Global South, and much of it to China.hile watching a lecture on critical minerals, where the speaker discussed the extraction and processing of copper, I was struck by a thought. It reminded me of how, amidst the surge in diseases and threats to the increasingly monocropped and genetically uniform banana industry, people have had to adopt meticulous practices to maintain these crops. Workers now wear full protective suits, spray themselves, and follow strict behaviors, walking on narrow paths.
Similarly, the extraction of copper from raw materials involves complex technologies, machines, and intricate processes—one of which is froth flotation, which the speaker referred to as "magic." This seemingly innocent and provocative statement has deeper implications, particularly when compared to the religious or ritual practices that anthropology has often labeled as "magic." For instance, the Tohono O'odham's rain ceremonies or the Pueblo sun races are considered forms of sympathetic magic.
I propose that, although indigenous and modern practices stem from entirely different metaphysical frameworks, they are not so different in some crucial ways. In this context, magic is not a superstitious attempt to influence weather patterns or animal behavior unscientifically. Instead, these practices were essential socio-political-cultural-technological processes through which people produced and reproduced the fabric of their culture and reality.
Copper mining, on the other hand, differs in key ways. It does not operate within a network of entangled relationships and dependencies in its environment, as indigenous practices do. Instead, it feeds the accelerating demand for surplus energy production. It is well known that the average American household consumes energy at a rate that would require 5.1 Earths, or 8.1 global hectares, to sustain if everyone lived that way. These numbers are even higher in the suburbs of Arizona near the Resolution Copper mine. However, the immense burden this lifestyle places on life, land, and water cannot be easily seen or heard—it is outsourced, much of it to the Global South, and much of it to China.
