Mines and signs: resource and political futures in Bangladesh

Abstract

In Bangladesh in 2007‐8, speculation about an energy catastrophe thrived alongside utopic visions of democracy. Two events consolidated the despair and hope for collective national futures: a movement against possible coal mines in Phulbari in the northwest and a nationwide political emergency. They are the focus of this essay. By bringing resource crisis and political crisis together, I argue, at one level, that resource and democracy have become two exemplary sites of thinking towards the future, and, at another, that the gaps in their varied imaginations are potential sites of politics. Drawing on my ethnography of the anti‐mining protests in Phulbari, I analyse the relationship between signification and anticipation in Bangladeshi politics. In so doing, I identify those emergent political moments that challenge the anticipatory politics of the state and the energy company.

Routledge Handbook of Autocratization in South Asia

“…But their efforts to engage government were met with intimidation and violence. Muhammad (2014) and others (Gardner et al 2012;Chowdhury 2016;Faruque 2018) detail the bloody uprising in Phulbari in 2006 where 50,000 people had gathered to protest against the open-pit coal mine (Nuremowla 2016). Three people were killed at the site and hundreds more were injured when semi-military (BDR) forces, usually charged with guarding the border, fired on the crowd, exposing the government's deployment of forces that threatens the right to protest and portends continuing state intimidation and violence against protesters (Gain 2006).…”

“…Finally, I turn attention to the government's response to these protests that has marked a decline in democratic participation and decision making. Available secondary evidence for this discussion comes from two resource extraction sites: Phulbari, Dinajpur and Rampal, Khulna, the latter adjacent to the Sundarbans (Gardner et al 2012;Ahasan and Gardner 2016;Chowdhury 2016;Faruque 2018;Chowdhury 2016Chowdhury , 2017Mahmud, Roth and Warner 2020;Misra and Mookerjea 2017). These sites are two among a number of coalfired power plants under construction which garner support from the government, often in concert with support from China and India (Gallagher et al 2021) but, distinctive about the Phulbari and Rampal sites is the ongoing opposition they have faced, offering a window on contestation between local communities and the government.…”

Environmental neglect: Other casualties of post-war infrastructure development

“…Alternatively, as Chowdhury (2016) astutely observes, infrastructure is also a form of governmentality for the post-war visions and anticipatory politics it encapsulates, whether it be modernity, mobility and ethnic reintegration. With roads, highways, bridges and ports as observable, concrete deliverables, infrastructure creates a sense of desire and hope, and facilitates the creation of new citizenships through aspirations of a new, collective future (Khan, 2006;Larkin, 2013;Chowdhury, 2016).…”

“…Alternatively, as Chowdhury (2016) astutely observes, infrastructure is also a form of governmentality for the post-war visions and anticipatory politics it encapsulates, whether it be modernity, mobility and ethnic reintegration. With roads, highways, bridges and ports as observable, concrete deliverables, infrastructure creates a sense of desire and hope, and facilitates the creation of new citizenships through aspirations of a new, collective future (Khan, 2006;Larkin, 2013;Chowdhury, 2016). However, while in some respect, infrastructure encourages ethnic reintegration and economic development, on the other hand, social relations are "arranged and limited through the built environment" that coincides with post-war visions (Bachmann & Shouten, 2018, pp.…”

‘Edgy’ politics and European anthropology in 2016

“…In the JRAI issue on environmental futures edited by Matthews and Barnes this year, and as Ferry notes in her concluding remarks to the issue, the environmental problems we face have created a ‘prognostic politics’ that looks beyond what might be classically thought of as the remit of anthropology (Ferry ; Mathews and Barnes ). Ethnographic attention can benefit our understanding of unexpected and novel topics, such as Antarctic glaciologists (O'Reilly ), risk assessment debates in Alaska (Hébert ) and the roles that oil and water play as causal agents in political debates (Limbert ), reminding us of the continued connection between resources and politics (Chowdhury ). Evidently, ontological and ecological ethnographies of an extended humanity allow for a ‘prognostic politics’ that has become increasingly influential today.…”