T raditional People and Communities in contentious with energy megaprojects in the Sertão of Pernambuco

Abstract

The Sertão de Pernambuco region is a dense ethnographic context to understand the dynamics and tensions that exist between Traditional Peoples and Communities and the performance of power groups in the Brazilian energy sector. Since 1970, this region has listed the construction of megaprojects for the development of the State, including the construction of a nuclear power station with six nuclear plants on the banks of the São Francisco River. The installation of enterprises in this region is intertwined in historical, economic and power relations. Studying this such a social field implies, in this sense, problematizing the interactions, heterogeneities and the different actors, forces, discourses and institutions that compose such contexts. We want, however, to draw attention to the political actions that the Traditional Peoples and Communities formulate with the intention of ensuring collective existences. The social cartographies elaborated by these agents, in this direction, have made it possible to understand claims to the idea of ​​development that makes the affected social groups invisible, consisting of what we analytically define as confrontational repertoire. From the ethnographic perspective, we seek to problematize a social context in which it is possible to see the intensification of government policies that drive the implementation of megaprojects, violate social and human rights and impact the environment on unprecedented scales. Traditional People and Communities; Contentious Politics; Northeastern Nuclear Plant; Social Cartography.