“The continent [Africa] may be a blot, but it is not a blot upon our conscience. The problem is not that we were once in charge, but that we are not in charge any more.” Boris Johnson, 2002 (while an MP).

Our current economic system, which is causing our crisis, can only exist because of racism; with people to exploit, areas to sacrifice, and for others to be able to ignore their plight. The extraction of people, land and resources from the global south may not be singularly led by our political leaders, but ‘we’ are still very much one of the actors engaged in these processes.

The middle-class white voices of the global north environmental movement have too often ignored the voices and actions of those experiencing and fighting ecocide both in the global south and from marginalised peoples in global north. This ignorance is even more prevalent within our educational institutions – we are taught to care for specific foreign animal species from a young age, but not the indigenous people who already defend the majority of the World and already live well with nature.

This list is in its early stages and will updated. Further suggestions are welcome at xretoolkit@protonmail.com

Articles:

• A Justice transition is a post-extractive transition, from War on Want and London Mining Network, 2019 – report examining the current state and ways forward.
• Money flows from the global south to the global north, not the other way around. Guardian, 2017.
• Let’s talk about neo-colonialism in Africa, Mark Langan, LSE blog, 2017.
• Environmental racism is killing Americans of color. Climate change will make it worse. Mustafa Santiago Ali, Guardian, 2020.
• Women’s Struggles Against Extractivism in Latin America and the Caribbean. Enara Echart Muñoz and Maria del Carmen Villarreal Contexto Internacional, 2019.

Books:

• As Long as Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock by Dina Gilio-Whitaker
• Climate Change From the Streets by Michael Méndez
• Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala
• Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging by Afua Hirsch

Videos:

• Defending People and Planet: Women Confronting Extractive Industries – short video from AWID and the Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRD-IC).
• The eco-fascist history of conservation (Facebook video with Survival International and XR Youth)
• Extractivism in Latin America (Facebook video by Nia from XR Global).