Resources, development and sustainable transformation
I study how countries and communities rich in resources but economically poor navigate the tension between the economic opportunities that natural resources offer and the social, environmental, and political costs that extraction imposes.
My work asks who controls resources, how they are used, who decides, who captures value, and who bears the costs. Crucially, it investigates and informs how traditionally excluded firms, communities, movements, and states build capabilities and power to contest extractive models and open space for alternatives.
Currently I am working on how geopolitics is reshaping existing dynamics: as critical minerals become central to the energy transition, military demand, and technological competition, the governance of what minerals are extracted, by whom, under what conditions, and for what ends is becoming one of the most urgent and contested questions of our time.
How can traditionally excluded resource-rich countries and communities decide how their resources are used?
Projects
End-Use Governance of Critical Minerals: Entry Points and Political Feasibility (2026)
Project lead, Institute of Development Studies
Funders: University of Johannesburg Trilateral Research Chair in Transformative Innovation and The Transition Security Project (April–December 2026).
Comparative research on end-use governance frameworks for critical minerals through policy analysis and stakeholder interviews across producer and consumer countries
Critical Minerals in Latin America and the Caribbean (2026)
Consultant, Critical Minerals Expert – Industrial Policy and Trade Specialist.
Funder: Interamerican Development Bank
Provide analytical inputs to support IDB´s work on critical minerals in Latin America, with focus on value chain dynamics, market structure and financial challenges.
Operationalising Trade Reforms and Strengthening Trade Climate Linkages in ADB Operations (2025–2026)
Consultant, Critical Minerals Expert – Industrial Policy and Trade Specialist.
Funder: Asian Development Bank
Provide technical input on critical minerals, industrial policy, and trade-reform linkages to support ADB operational work; contributed to analysis and deliverables aligned with strengthening trade climate linkages across ADB operations. Countries: Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Tracing Risks, Driving Change: Building Inclusive Trade in EV Value Chains.
Principal Investigator. IDS. Funder: CITP Innovation Fund (2026)
Links EU electric-vehicle supply chains with global mining-conflict data to identify unrecognised social and governance risks.
Rapid Assessment of Diversification Opportunities in Critical Minerals (2025–2026)
Advisor. UNCTAD.
Applied economic complexity tools to map value addition pathways in Zambia, Namibia, and Madagascar; contributed to stakeholder consultations, policy dialogues and outputs development.
The Justice Footprint of Mineral Imports in UK Value Chains (2024–2025)
Principal Investigator. IDS. Funder: CITP Innovation Fund.
Investigated socio-environmental justice implications of UK mineral imports and supply chain governance.
Selected publications
Johnstone, P., & Marín, A. (2026). Beyond the twin transition: Military drivers of critical minerals’ expansion. The Extractive Industries and Society, 26, 101836. Link
Marin, A. ‘From Injustice to Transformation: Civil Society Resistance and Mineral Extraction in Argentina and Chile’ (2025), IDS Bulletin 56.2, ‘Struggles for Justice in the Energy Transition: Views from the Front Lines’, J. Gaventa, R. McGee and A. Shankland (eds) Link
Marin, A. and Palazzo, G. (2025) Civic power in mining conflicts: Barrier or catalyst for a just energy transition?, Environmental Research Letters. Link
Marín, A. and Goya, D. (2021) ‘Mining – The Dark Side of the Energy Transition’, Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions: Celebrating a decade of EIST: What’s Next for Transition Studies? Link
Pietrobelli, C., Marin, A., & Olivari, J. (2018). Innovation in mining value chains: New evidence from Latin America. Resources Policy, 58, 1–10. Link
Marín, A., Stubrin, L., Murguía, D., Carreras, E., & Palacín, R. (2021). Innovation and Competitiveness in Mining Value Chains: The Case of Argentina. Inter-American Development Bank. Link
Marín, A. (2025) Critical minerals and the new development dilemma: What the WBG’s new strategy must get right. Bretton Woods Project, At Issue, 11 December. Link
Marin and Palazzo (2025) From Dominance to Dependence: What the UK Must Learn to Build Trusted Critical Minerals Partnerships. Link
Marin, A. and Morales, J. (2025) From Extraction to Value Addition: How Capabilities and Power Shape Local Supplier Development. Link