Title: “Green Are Fields, Not Mines”: The Case of Lithium Mining and Resistance in Serbia
Author/Institution: N. Djukanovic – MPhil Thesis, University of Oxford
Publication Year: 2022
Contested Development in the Jadar Valley
N. Djukanovic’s master’s research offers a grounded exploration of how Serbia’s Jadar Valley became a symbol of environmental resistance in Europe’s race for critical minerals. Centering on Rio Tinto’s proposed lithium mine, the study unpacks how local farmers, activists, and environmental groups mobilized around the slogan “Green Are Fields, Not Mines” to defend agricultural livelihoods and rural identity against industrial encroachment. Through interviews, protest ethnography, and document analysis, Djukanovic reveals that opposition was not simply anti-development—it reflected competing visions of what “progress” means in post-transition Serbia: industrial extraction versus ecological sovereignty.
Grassroots Mobilization and the Politics of Voice
Methodologically, the thesis blends qualitative fieldwork with political-ecology analysis, tracing how environmental activism emerged as a form of democratic participation in a context of weak institutions. Farmers and local NGOs reframed the debate from one of technical feasibility to one of social legitimacy— questioning who benefits, who decides, and who bears the risks. Djukanovic highlights how community narratives of care for land and water became powerful tools to challenge both state and corporate authority, ultimately forcing the temporary suspension of the Jadar project in 2022.
Implications for Critical-Mineral Governance in Europe
The study concludes that the Jadar case exposes deep tensions within Europe’s own green-transition agenda. While the EU seeks secure lithium supplies, Serbia’s citizens demand environmental justice and participatory decision-making. Djukanovic argues that future mineral strategies must integrate local consent, transparent governance, and biodiversity protection as core criteria—not peripheral concerns. The Serbian experience, he suggests, is an early warning that the energy transition cannot be socially sustainable if it reproduces extractive logics under a “green” label.