Class, caste and religion: transcending social identities at an extractive frontier of China’s Belt and Road Initiative

The literature on resistance against extractivism often focuses on the external dynamics of contestation – that is, community–corporation or community–state dynamics. This study illustrates the importance of the ‘messy’ internal politics of class, caste and religion in shaping the political actions of social groups. I analyse the Gorano protest movement against coal mining in Tharparkar, Pakistan, which is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Tharparkar is a majority Hindu district, making it a unique outlier in a Muslim-majority country. The study was conducted using qualitative methods, including semi-structured in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and participant observation. The results of the study demonstrate that the Gorano movement successfully formulated a collective identity as Thari anchored in a shared folklore, history and territory. The Thari identity, with a set of socio-cultural dynamics that include patronage politics, logic of sociality and alliances, helped overcome differentiation and created the conditions for collective action. The findings highlight the paradoxical role of the types of socio-cultural conditions where tensions and synergies for collective action can originate. These synergies hold the key to formulating transformative alternatives to extractivism.