This book is a compilation of nine research studies that analyze in a critical and interdisciplinary way - combining theoretical analysis with case studies - the problematic of extractivism as a strategy of economic growth and development in México and Latin America. The chapters are written in a simple and clear manner, which contributes to understanding the increase of megaprojects for the exploitation of natural resources, framed within a development model based on commodities.

Its publication is done at a moment in which the country experiences accelerated increases in mining concessions, law reforms, enactment of hydrocarbon law, and other policies that seek to increase private investment, both national and foreign. Simultaneously, the emergence of groups in defense of the territory and the influence they have exercised in their regions, in opposition to the implementation of these megaprojects.

The order of the book eases the comprehension of the current phenomenon; in the first chapter, authors Ricardo Grinspun, Carlos Larrea and Lissa North make an analysis of post-Neoliberalism in Latin America and how extractivism which began since the Conquest continues. They suggest that the countries with a rooted history of mining extraction should develop policies of economic diversification, supporting small-scale and medium-scale enterprises, devoted to non-extractivist activities.

In the chapter “The problematic of development based on Commodities in Latin America”, James M. Cypher analyzes historically the role performed by commodities in the economic growth policies in Latin America. He suggests two problems, the first is the need to generate programs and projects to transfer the resources and guarantee social development, taking into account the instability of prices and the availability of commodities; the second is the ability to acquire and adopt advanced technology for the exploration and processing of the resources extracted.

In the next chapter, Darcy Tetreault carries out an analysis of the ecological damage in México, the discharge of toxic waste into the Sonora River by the largest copper mine in the country, Buenavista del Cobre, exploited by a subsidiary company of Grupo México. The author calls into question the efficiency of environmental laws and points out the relationship of the governments with mining companies and the interests of the large corporations.

For the fourth chapter, Daniel Villafuerte Solís shows a perspective of how in the south of the country the future megaprojects of mining, electric generation and large-scale agriculture are gaining ground through different development projects.

In the chapter “Mining, development and alternatives to extractivism”, Julia Cuadros Falla makes a reflection about the increase of mining activities and the utilities of these companies in Perú, despite the fluctuations of the prices of metals in the international market. This growth has generated environmental and socioeconomic impacts in the communities, weakening of the public institutionality, and strengthening of the sectors with economic power that are related to the activity, highlighting that there is not an increase in fiscal income from mining. This has generated conflicts of coexistence within the communities; to illustrate this, the author describes four experiences in Perú, in which he comments on the strategies of negotiation of the community with the mining companies and the government, in terms of the allocation of budget from royalties and the processes of management and participative planning in the territories with mining presence.

In chapter six, Liisa L. North and Laura Young analyze several cases of lawsuits presented by communities to Canadian courts and the Inter- American Court of Human Rights (ICHR) against the Canadian mining enterprises, arguing negligence from those companies, negative impacts for the community, resources and the environment. They expose how the communities, despite generating strategies of social cohesion, ability for local organization and solid social networks, are at a disadvantage regarding the large mining corporations in terms of financial resources, arbitration mechanisms incorporated into commercial treaties, complicity and manipulation with the countries’ legal system. Emerging countries are the ones that have been most affected from lawsuits since, according to Gallagher and Shrestha (Institute of Global Development and the Environment), the least developed countries were object of lawsuits that exceeded by far their part in foreign investment. As conclusion, until now no legal action has been able to repair the damage to communities, much less to resolve conflicts between the companies and the communities. In order to improve the processes of conflict resolution it is necessary for there to be a change in Canadian policies that seek to improve the behavior of their mining corporations and for the countries where the extraction is carried out to improve their legal systems, so that they protect the populations from the poor practices of mining companies.

In chapter seven the harmful impacts of fracking are addressed within the context of the energetic reform. The authors, who belong to the Mexican Alliance against Fracking, expose a critical position in face of the Mexican government’s actions, which has defined secondary laws that will deregulate the exploitation of hydrocarbons without taking into consideration studies performed in the United States where negative impacts have been shown that the hydraulic fracture can cause on health, the environment and in human rights violation. Future conflicts can be foreseen between community and company, especially due to the scarcity and contamination of water.

In chapter eight, an analysis of mining in Zacatecas at the beginning of the 21^st Century is found. Francisco García González emphasizes the importance of Zacatecas in the national mining industry, showing how in 2012 it was the second place in gold and copper production, and the first place in silver, lead and zinc (Anuario Estadístico de la Minería Mexicana, 2013). According to the analysis carried out with the governments of Ricardo Monreal Ávila, Amalia García Medina and Miguel Alonso Reyes (from 1998 to 2014), it is concluded that the mining plunder still continues. The governments analyzed made easier and favored the processes of mining exploitation and extraction for large private companies, in return for few contributions in the economic growth and development for the rest of the state. The results were the disappearance of small-scale mining in exchange for the boom of mega mining, absence of processes of value aggregation for the extractive activity, environmental destruction, greater increase in production, and deceleration in the generation of employment, stripping of lands and natural resources from the communities, and increases of socioenvironmental conflicts.

In the final chapter, “Goldcorp, Peñasquito and Mazapil: Gold, water and social inconformity”, Alfredo Valadez Rodríguez studies the case where he analyzes the conflict between the Canadian company Goldcorp and the communities adjacent to the mine, making evident the strategies used for land stripping, such as deceiving peasants, criminalizing social resistance, and supporting the company by state institutions. In addition to lands, water and depredation of natural resources have also been the object of the conflict.

With all the nuances presented in 209 pages, there is an invitation to read the book, which points towards a reflection regarding current phenomena; thus, the discussion of different aspects of mining is articulated with others related to the use and deterioration of natural resources, the situation and participation of communities, resistance, extractivism, environmental costs, Neoliberal governments, and abuses against the community.