Suchergebnisse

Na análise de conflitos socioambientais por mineração, vários trabalhos têm apontado as diversas causas que originam estes cenários de tensão sobretudo em comunidades locais. Contudo, um aspecto pouco abordado é a percepção dos riscos como causa de um conflito socioambiental. A partir dessa premissa, este trabalho discute teorias que abordam os riscos e o princípio da precaução com a teoria da justiça ambiental a fim de identificar os elementos comuns entre estas e suas implicações em conflitos que envolvem coletividades. A conexão analítica entre o princípio da precaução e a teoria da justiça ambiental permite advertir que, em alguns conflitos por mineração, além da rejeição aos riscos por possíveis efeitos poluentes, existem outras questões inter-relacionadas de conteúdo epistemológico, social, cultural, econômico e político que influenciam nos cenários de conflito. O trabalho mostra que estas inter-relações se expressam principalmente nas limitações intrínsecas do conhecimento científico para a avaliação de riscos e incertezas em projetos de mineração complexos e na disputa política que envolve avaliação e decisão sobre riscos que poderiam afetar bens incomensuráveis como o ambiente, a saúde humana e as formas de organização de diversas comunidades. ; In the analysis of socioenvironmental conflicts by mining, several studies have pointed out the various causes that give rise to these tension scenarios, especially in local communities. However, one aspect that is not addressed is the perception of risks as a socio-environmental conflict cause. Based on this premise, this work discuss the theories that approach the risks and precautionary principle with the theory of environmental justice in order to identify the common elements between both and their implications in the context of conflicts that involve collectivities. We argue that the analytical link between the precautionary principle and the environmental justice theory allows us to note that in some conflicts regarding mining, in addition to the rejection of risks due to possible polluting effects, there are other interrelated issues of epistemological, social, cultural, economic and political content that influence in conflict scenarios. The work shows that these interrelations are expressed mainly in the intrinsic limitations of scientific knowledge for the evaluation of risks and uncertainties in complex mining projects, and in the political dispute surrounding the evaluation and decision on risks that could affect incommensurable goods such as the environment, human health and the forms of organization of various communities.

This publication belongs to the WATERLAT-GOBACIT Network Working Papers Series (http://waterlat.org/publications/working-papers-series/), Vol. 6, No 3. This issue was developed by members of the WATERLAT-GOBACIT Network's Thematic Area 7 (TA7), Art, Communication, Culture, and Education. This is the second issue of the TA7 Series. It features three articles presenting research results from Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. Article 1, by Ximena I. Cabral, is a long piece developed in a format close to that of a photographic essay, as the author seeks to capture and analyse the "expressive resources" used by the actors during a cycle of social protests against inequality and injustice related to water Politics and management in the Province of Cordoba, Argentina, between 2005 and 2007. The article examines in detail the conflicts arising from the privatization of Cordoba's water and sanitation utility in 1997, when the government granted a 30-year long concession to a private consortium led by a multinational water company to deliver these services. After the large-scale crisis that affected the country in 2001, caused by a decade of highly destructive neoliberal policies implemented during the 1990s, Argentina's currency was heavily devaluated, prompting a renegotiation of the contract that in practice amounted to a dollarization of the tariff, which was strongly rejected by the population. This triggered a long cycle of popular protests that faced a very determined alliance between politicians and local and international businesses, which would eventually impose its conditions through different means, including repression. In Article 2, Zenaida Luisa Lauda-Rodríguez examines a successful case of "precautionary" social struggle against a mining project in the State of Santa Catarina, Brazil. The local community, in alliance with other actors, succeeded in preventing the implementation of the mining project through a campaign based on a demand to apply the "precautionary principle", which passed the burden of ...