Different fields have a long tradition of studying extractivism. The concept is related to post-development and political ecology theories and refers to appropriating and exploiting natural and human resources, usually from the Global North towards the Global South. It helps explain how rural regions change due to significant global investments. São Teotónio (Alentejo, Portugal) and Barrancas (La Guajira, Colombia) are two places that can serve as examples of large-scale social and environmental changes following international investments in extractive industries. While São Teotónio has been facing investments in the agricultural sector for the last twenty-five years, Barrancas saw the construction of the coal mine El Cerrejón in 1985, which continues to function today. While the case studies involve two different forms of extractivism in distant and culturally distinct regions, we may detect many mutual characteristics in the new dynamics of these two places. This paper aims to understand the similarities and differences, departing from data collected during fieldwork experiences in São Teotónio and Barrancas. Although the discourses of investing companies and governments focus on the importance of these production projects for the development and the economy of populations, regions, and nations, the local population's quality of life has drastically changed. Some common issues experienced by the populations of both places include dispossession of the population from their native lands and material resources, displacement, no access to potable water, food crisis, impacts on biodiversity, social division, and deepening of inequalities.

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extractivism,rural studies,Colombian guajira,southwestern portugal