DEVELOPMENTAL FUSION: CHINESE INVESTMENT, RESOURCE NATIONALISM, AND THE DISTRIBUTIVE POLITICS OF URANIUM MINING IN NAMIBIA by MEREDITH J. DEBOOM B.A., University of Iowa, 2009 M.A. University of Colorado at Boulder, 2013 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Geography 2018 This thesis entitled: Developmental Fusion: Chinese Investment, Resource Nationalism, and the Distributive Politics of Uranium Mining in Namibia written by Meredith J. DeBoom has been approved for the Department of Geography John O’Loughlin, Chair Joe Bryan, Committee Member Date The final copy of this thesis has been examined by the signatories, and we find that both the content and the form meet acceptable presentation standards of scholarly work in the above mentioned discipline. IRB protocol # 14-0112 iii Abstract DeBoom, Meredith J. (PhD, Geography) Developmental Fusion: Chinese Investment, Resource Nationalism, and the Distributive Politics of Uranium Mining in Namibia Thesis directed by Professor John O’Loughlin China’s rising global influence has significant implications for the politics of natural resource extraction and development in sub-Saharan Africa. Focusing on the uranium industry, I analyze how China’s influence operates at global, national, and sub-national scales in relation to natural resource politics in the southern African country of Namibia. Specifically, I draw on multi-methods fieldwork to evaluate 1) how Namibians are engaging with Chinese investments in mining and 2) what implications these engagements have for the politics of mining and development, including natural resource ownership and the distribution of mining-associated benefits and costs. Contrary to portrayals of Africans as passive foreign investment recipients, I find that Namibian elites are leveraging projects like the Husab uranium mine, which is the Chinese government’s largest investment in Africa to date, to pursue their own political goals. These goals include an increased role for the Namibian state in mining. This outcome — a noteworthy achievement for a small African state — suggests that foreign investment and resource nationalism are not necessarily at odds. It also indicates that African leaders can leverage Chinese investments to improve their bargaining positions in relation to both the global economy and their own domestic politics. Within Namibia, however, the distribution of benefits and costs associated with projects like the Husab mine is likely to further marginalize already- marginalized populations. Furthermore, by reinforcing the state as the trustee of development, projects like Husab may also make it more difficult for minority communities to challenge mining-based development. Characterizing projects like the Husab uranium mine as neo-colonial iv exploitation by China is an over-generalization given the challenges such projects pose to historical uranium geopolitics and mining ownership patterns. It is equally clear, however, that, far from overturning all forms of mining-related exploitation, China’s rising influence can also deepen historical inequalities associated with mining, particularly for politically-marginalized communities. v Dedication To Aunt Mavis, Grandma Marie, and Lucy — three indomitable spirits and unwavering examples of love, courage, and good humor. vi Acknowledgements I have benefitted from the generosity of countless co-travelers, advisors, and advocates on the path toward the PhD. First, thank you to all those who participated in, advocated for, or engaged with this research project in Namibia and beyond. To those with whom I worked in Namibia, thank you for opening your communities and homes to me and entrusting me with your stories and experiences. To be so welcomed by those who were once strangers is one of life’s greatest gifts. You have challenged me both intellectually and personally, and my world has expanded exponentially through your friendship, insights, courage, and compassion. Special thanks to my tireless research assistants, who believed in this project like it was their own (and, indeed, it is) and have guided the research at each step of the way. Stay well, my friends. At the University of Colorado-Boulder, thank you to my advisor, John O’Loughlin, for your mentorship, wisdom, and good humor. I am grateful to have had you as my guide on this journey. There aren’t enough poppy seed bagels in the world to repay my debt! Thank you also to my committee members Joe Bryan, Mara Goldman, Brian King, and Cameron Thies. Your insights, critical engagements, and guidance have strengthened my scholarship and provided me with outstanding models of academic lives well-lived. Thank you to the Department of Geography and Institute of Behavioral Science communities. I am forever grateful to the Johno comrades, graduate student friends and colleagues, faculty mentors, and administrative guides whose encouragement, kindness, and good humor have enriched my life. Thanking you all to the level you deserve would constitute another dissertation. I will miss working alongside you dearly, but I look forward to many more years of collaboration and camaraderie. Special thanks to Darla and Karen, both of whom have surely earned sainthood. vii My fieldwork was facilitated through the generosity of several funding agencies and institutions, including the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement awards, the American Association of University Women American Dissertation Fellowship, the P.E.O. Scholar Award, and the University of Colorado-Boulder. The usual caveats apply: any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this dissertation are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of any of these granting organization or funding sources. I would also like to thank my early academic mentors at the University of Iowa, who opened countless doors en route to my academic path. Special thanks to Tom Rice and Bob Kirby, whose belief in the power of research and education to improve the world inspires my own idealism. Likewise, thank you to my students and mentees at the University of Colorado- Boulder and the University of Iowa. You have taught me far more than I have taught you. Thank you especially to my family and friends, who have believed in me and have kept me at least remotely aware of the bigger picture, even when my head was buried — sometimes quite literally — in the Namibian sand. I am grateful for you all. Special thanks to Colleen and Darrin for their years of sacrifice and support, my dear friends and family members for their unparalleled camaraderie and counsel, and Lucy and Jude for much-needed moments of distraction and laughter. Special thanks also to my grandmother, Marie DeBoom, for inspiration in the final push to the finish. In January 2018, she announced that I was a doctor from her hospital bed in rural Iowa. Once Grandma had so declared it, all that was left was to make it so. Finally, thank you to my dad, Kermit, for your love, encouragement, and belief in me and this project. Your perspective, humor, and unwavering examples of kindness, courage, and grit inspire me each and every day. I can never thank you enough for all you have given me. viii Table of Contents Chapter 1: China’s Rising Influence and Resource Nationalism in Namibia 1.1 Developmental Fusion: Introduction and Research Questions ....................................... 1 1.2 Theoretical and Practical Engagements: A Postcolonial Approach to Resurgent Resource Nationalism, Africa-China Relations, and African Agency ........................... 3 1.3 Key Findings ................................................................................................................. 18 1.4 Context of Namibia ....................................................................................................... 20 1.5 Overview of the Dissertation ........................................................................................ 38 Chapter 2: Fieldwork, Methods, Data, and Limitations 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 41 2.2 Fieldwork: Locations and Logistics .............................................................................. 41 2.3 Methods......................................................................................................................... 45 2.4 Transcription and Analysis ........................................................................................... 61 2.5 Transparency and Confidentiality ................................................................................. 62 2.6 Positionality and Limitations ........................................................................................ 64 2.7 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 70 Chapter 3: Ecological Civilization and the Technopolitics of China’s Nuclear Energy Rise 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 72 3.2 Geopolitics of Ecological Civilization .......................................................................... 74 3.3 Changing Geographies of Nuclear Energy ..................................................................