Specialization:
Current students: Email me to make an office hours appointment
Bio:
Javiera Barandiarán is Associate Professor in the Global Studies program at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Barandiarán received her Ph.D. in 2013 from the University of California, Berkeley in Environmental Science, Policy and Management. She holds a Masters in Public Policy also from Berkeley and received her B.A. in politics from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. For her work on lihtium she was selected for a Bellagio Residency by the Rockfeller Foundation and a Berlin Prize from the American Academy. Her research has been awarded support from the National Science Foundation, the Andrew Mellon Foundation, the Social Science Research Council, Chile's National Agency for Science (ANID) and others. Her work explores the intersection of science, environment, and development in Latin America.
Important information for prospective graduate students: our departmental website contains a lot of useful information about both our MA and PhD programs. Please read these pages carefully and study the areas of expertise and specialization of our faculty to ensure our department is the right one for you. Contact the department Graduate Advisor for detailed information.
Projects:
Director of the Center for Restorative Environmental Work (CREW), which examines emergent frameworks and strategies for rebuilding socioecological relations through active connections in California and Latin America to the broader Pacific Rim.
Co-PI on the project Irreversible returns. A study on glaciology and glacial geo-engineering in Chile in the context of the Anthropocene, with Cristián Simonetti and José Ragas of the Catholic University of Chile (Fondecyt project)
PI and co-PI on various projects related to lithium mining, including In the shadows of climate mitigation: The politics of mining for a just energy transition, with Craig Johnson, Teresa Kramarz, Don Kingsbury and Susan Park (Social Sicneces and Humanities Research Council of Canada project)
Publications:
On lithium mining:
Barandiaran, forthcoming. Living Minerals: Nature, Trade, and Power in the Race for Lithium.
Blair, et al., 2022. Exhausted: How We Can Stop Lithium Mining from Depleting Water Resources, Draining Wetlands, and Harming Communities in South America
Barandiaran, 2019. “Lithium and Development Imaginaries in Chile, Argentina and Bolivia.” World Development. 113, pp. 381-391.
Barandiaran, 2021. “Democratizing Science for Post-Carbon Lithium Futures”. The Berlin Journal, no. 35. American Academy in Berlin.
On Rights of Nature:
Barandiaran, et al. 2025 Demanding a Radical Constitution: Environmentalism, Resilience, and Participation in Chile’s 2022 Reform Efforts
Barandiaran, et al. 2022. Derechos de la Naturaleza en Chile: Argumentos para su desarrollo constitucional.
Podcast: “Rights of Nature: Global Experiences.” Hacia una Constitución Ecológica podcast, January 10.
On Chilean politics and constitutional reform:
Barandiaran, et al. 2025 Demanding a Radical Constitution: Environmentalism, Resilience, and Participation in Chile’s 2022 Reform Efforts
Podcast: DECIDIMOS participar - Reflections on science, systems of knowledge and Chile's new draft constitution.
Barandiaran, 2021. Lo que el Estado neoliberal no sabe: Conflictos científicos y política ambiental en Chile.
Barandiaran, 2018. Science and Environment in Chile: The Politics of Expert Advice in a Neoliberal Democracy.
On Environmental and Energy Justice:
Partridge and Barrandiaran, 2024. "The long mid-transition: tracking decades of coastal oil well decommissioning in California"
Ureta et al., 2023 Strenght out of Weakness: Rethinking scientific engagement with the ecological crisis as strategic action
Partridge et al., 2023 Decommissioning: another critical challenge for energy transitions
Barandiaran et al., 2022. Special stream issue of Media + Environment
For a full list of publications see my CV above.
Courses:
2025: Global Climate Justice from the South (in person and online versions)