Resumo:
In this thesis I undertake a socio-anthropological reflection on environmental conflicts
in Marine Extractive Reserves, based on a case study on Baía do Iguape Marine
Extractive Reserve (RESEX). The main purpose of the research was to analyze how
the implementation of the Marine Iguape RESEX intervenes in the material and
symbolic disputes carried out by different social and economic segments for the
possession, use and significance of the territory. To do so, I started from the theoretical
assumption of the formation of an environmental field in contemporary societies,
whose axiom is the notion of sustainable development. The study focused on the
analysis of the conflict involving traditional extractive populations (fishermen,
fisherwomen, shellfish gatherers, quilombolas, small farmers) and the Pedra do Cavalo
Complex, composed of a dam and a hydroelectric plant. The methodological strategies
consisted of document analysis, collection of primary data from semi-structured
interviews, systematic observation of the performance of traditional populations in
different public spaces, in the meetings of the Management Council of the Resex and
participation in clashes involving the carrying out of a gutter test in the Paraguaçu River
during the pandemic period. The research results point out the lack of agreement
between government proposals (federal and state) for this area. It also showed
changes in the disputes over the appropriation, use and meaning of the territory with
the implementation of the Iguape Resex. Local populations increased their symbolic
capital in the environmental field and modified their struggle strategies, with
institutional recognition as traditional extractive populations and their importance for
ecosystem conservation, the expansion of horizontal and vertical support networks and
new territorial rights concerning these populations. However, the implementation of
these rights comes up against difficulties in applying environmental policy, particularly
with regard to Extractive Reserves, as well as the developmentalist and neoliberal
positions of a large part of government spheres and the private sector.
