Paper short abstract:

The imposition of the lithium mine project in Covas do Barroso, a rural region in northern Portugal, is contested by the local population. Through this case-study I look at the resistance dynamics and analyze the antagonisms to public policies driving wealth, progress and sustainable development.

Paper long abstract:

The increasing projects to extract minerals are part of political strategies to keep promises on growth and energy transition. Strategies that are impacting life in rural and peripheral regions. Located in northern Portugal, Covas do Barroso, is one of these regions. The imposition of the project to mine lithium in the region has been answered with resistance by the local population.

The focus of the paper is on the forms of agency generated by power dynamics emerging inside and outside Covas do Barroso. Foucault's study of power and its analysis on resistance dynamics, suggests analyzing "power relations through the antagonism of strategies" (Foucault, 2001). Thus, through the responses in Covas, I analyze antagonisms to strategies such as wealth, progress and sustainable development, and to the homogeneous meaning given to them by public policies. My search for explaining power dynamics in the region, takes into account the historical implications and cumulative confrontations generated by these policies (Wolf, 1990).