Povos tradicionais: expressões do racismo ambiental na Amazônia

Abstract

This research aimed to analyze the challenges posed by environmental and structural racism to traditional peoples in the Amazon, based on their lived experiences in six different municipalities in the state of Amazonas, which establish varied strategies for coping with climate emergencies. Thus, the research starts from a critique of the deepening of capitalist relations of production and consumption as the main cause of the socio-environmental crisis and the intensification of social, racial, and climate inequalities. In this sense, the specific objectives were: a) to analyze the expressions of environmental racism in its socio-historical processes in the Amazon; b) to identify the contemporary expressions of environmental racism in the socio-cultural dynamics of the traditional communities participating in the research; c) to uncover the limits and possibilities in the struggles and strategies for confronting environmental racism by traditional communities in the face of climate emergencies. The methodology adopted is based on historical-dialectical materialism, since it provides the basis for a dynamic and holistic interpretation of reality; this is a qualitative research study. This research is linked to the projects: "Traditional Subjects and Territories in the Amazon" (CNPQ), "Local Development & Sustainability: management of natural resources in riverside communities in the Amazon" (FAPEAM), and "INVESTIGATION OF DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT IN THE STATES OF RIO GRANDE DO SUL AND AMAZONAS: contribution to disaster prevention/mitigation, adaptation to climate change and resilience building" of the Inova-FAPERGS-Fiocruz Call for Proposals. Through the analysis of focus groups with professionals working in the face of climate emergencies, the data showed that environmental emergencies (floods, severe droughts, wildfires and landslides) are not randomly distributed. They affect with greater intensity precisely the territories historically occupied by racialized populations, where the presence of the State is fragile, discontinuous or non-existent. The difficulties of access, precarious logistics, lack of equipment and limited communication show that environmental protection in the Amazon is permeated by a scenario of inequality. In the most isolated areas, healthcare, social assistance, and civil defense depend on the improvisation of professionals and community survival strategies, reinforcing the notion of the active absence of the State. However, the analysis shows that environmental racism in the Amazon is structural in relation to climate emergencies, but it is important to discuss the coping strategies that arise in the form of (re)existence of the peoples in the face of the adversities of this scenario.