Call for Papers:

Governing Extraction: Value Chains, Infrastructures, and North–South Relations after 1945

November 12–13, 2026, University of Basel, Switzerland

Organizers: Sandra Bott (UNIL), Nathalia Capellini (UNIL), Laura Rischbieter (UNIBAS)

Keynote : Jayita Sarkar (University of Glasgow)

DEADLINE: May 15, 2026

This international workshop invites proposals for abstracts that examine the connections between extractive industries, energy infrastructures and global value chains, as well as how these were governed, managed and promoted during the second half of the 20th century. 

The expansion of hydrocarbon and metal extraction, along with their associated infrastructures, has profoundly transformed landscapes, ecologies, labour regimes, and the distribution of global power. These activities expanded over the second half of the past century through the constitution of a deeply interconnected system that includes production, logistics, regulation and finance across the globe. Moving beyond the “resource curse” interpretation, this workshop interrogates the links between local territories of extraction across the globe and political elites, as well as international trading hubs. It also invites a reflection on the chronology of this period shaped by several processes such as decolonization and Cold War geopolitics, resource sovereignty, neoliberal restructuring, environmental regulations, and the globalization of companies, which deeply transformed extraction activities. 

This international workshop adopts a historical perspective and asks: How have states, private firms, trading companies, international agencies, and financial actors governed extraction and shaped global value chains? Where, and by whom, is value created, captured, or lost? How have these structures affected North–South political relations and the socio-environmental conditions of extractive regions?

We welcome papers addressing themes including (but not limited to):

• Value creation and capture along mineral and energy supply chains: from extraction to refining, transport, trading, and consumption.
• The rise of commodity trading hubs and the role of fiscal, legal, and logistical infrastructures that make certain jurisdictions—such as Switzerland—central to global trade.
• State–corporate relations and the interplay between host governments, multinational companies, and home-state regulatory or diplomatic strategies.
• Connected perspectives on the links between extractive industries and infrastructure building.
• The politics of infrastructure—pipelines, ports, refineries, smelters, and energy grids—as tools of geopolitical influence and development.
• North–South asymmetries in decision-making power, technology access, and environmental and social burdens.
• Corporate strategies of opacity, accounting, taxation, and risk management, and their implications for public revenue and sovereignty.
• Comparative or connected perspectives on specific commodities (e.g., bauxite, aluminium, gold, copper, rare earths, hydrocarbons) and their global trajectories.

Submission guidelines

1- Proposals for abstracts must be sent by May 15, 2026 to the following address: governingextraction@gmail.com.

Each proposal, submitted in Word format, must include:

- A title

- An abstract of no more than 400 words that states the issues which will be addressed and the sources that will be used (archives, document corpus, etc.).

- A short biography indicating the author’s title, institutional affiliation, and email address. 

Authors will be notified of the acceptance of their proposals by mid-June.

2- Participants will be asked to submit short papers (4,000–5,000 words with notes) by October 20, 2026, which will serve as a basis for the discussions during the Workshop.

The conference organizers are planning a peer-reviewed special issue based on a selection of extended and revised workshop papers. 

Practical information

The workshop will be held in English at the University of Basel in Switzerland.

There is no registration or participation fee, and accommodation costs will be supported. Some travel funding is available; participants (especially early career scholars) in need of support are invited to indicate this in their submission. Scholars with access to institutional or grant funds to support research travel will be asked to consider these sources first. To reduce the conference’s carbon footprint, we encourage participants to consider lower-carbon travel options where possible. Online participation may be offered in specific cases.