What concept do Chagnon and colleagues use to describe the global pattern of extraction?

• A. Extraction remains limited to local sites.
• B. Global extractivism is a systemic cross-border process.
• C. It is a temporary trend reversing soon.
• D. It relies only on extraction of minerals.

Answer: (B)

Global extractivism is described as a systemic cross-border process. Chagnon and colleagues emphasize that extracting resources isn’t confined to a single site or country; it’s organized through international networks that connect production, finance, trade, and governance. Resources flow from places where they are located to global markets where they are processed and sold, with profits often accumulating in distant centers while the local communities and environments bear the costs. This framing helps explain why extraction is linked to broader economic and political systems—trade rules, investment flows, corporate strategies, and state policies—that shape where extraction happens, how it’s managed, and who benefits. Choices that imply extraction stays local, is only temporary, or involves just minerals miss this cross-border, system-wide character.