The Brazilian Amazon: Politics, Science and International Relations in the History of the Forest

221 Pages·2015·5.26 MB·English

by  Joana Bezerra (auth.)

World Forests XXI
Joana Bezerra
The Brazilian
Amazon
Politics, Science and International
Relations in the History of the Forest
World Forests
Volume 21
Series editors
Matti Palo, Cartago, Costa Rica
Jussi Uusivuori, Vantaa, Finland
Advisory Board
Janaki Alavalapati, University of Florida, USA
Joseph Buongiorno, University of Wisconsin, USA
Jose Campos, CATIE, Costa Rica
Sashi Kant, University of Toronto, Canada
Maxim Lobovikov, FAO/Forestry Department, Rome, Italy
Misa Masuda, University of Tsukuba, Japan
Roger Sedjo, Resources for the Future, Washington, USA
Brent Sohngen, University of Ohio, USA
Yaoqi Zhang, Ohio State University, Ohio, USA
World Forests Description
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moretransdisciplinary.Withthisismind,Springer’sWorldForestsserieshasbeen
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Joana Bezerra
The Brazilian Amazon
Politics, Science and International Relations
in the History of the Forest
123
JoanaBezerra
NEPAM
Campinas
Brazil
ISSN 1566-0427 ISSN 1566-0427 (electronic)
World Forests
ISBN978-3-319-23029-0 ISBN978-3-319-23030-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-23030-6
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For Helena and Deborah
Foreword 1
The Amazon, a Most Enticing Subject
TheAmazonbasinisperhapsthemostmysteriousandenticingregionofourplanet.
Fromthestart,itwasachallenge.Ourancestorsarrivedthereverylate,considering
thatourprimateforebearslivedinAfricaformillionsofyears.TheylefttheAfrican
continentverylateandarrivedintheAmericasonlywhenwewerealreadymodern
humans(Homosapiens).Thereisahugedisputeaboutwhenhumansarrivedinthe
Western Hemisphere, some would say this was several thousand years ago, others
inthemajoritywouldsaytheyarrivedthereonlyinthelastfewthousandyears.The
Amazonrainforestisthougharecentgeographicsetting,theresultoftheendofthe
last glaciation, less than 15 thousand years back. In geological terms, this is
nothing, even iffor us humans it is a huge amount of time, three times more than
written history, probably more than a third of our time as a biological species
(humans).
There has been a long dispute about human settlement in the Amazonian rain-
forest. The traditional view held by those who conflated civilisation and cold
weather,hardtoilandinventionsproutedinharshconditions,suchastheAndesin
South America. The Amazon, as a Holocene tropical inferno, would gather deca-
dentsettlersfrommorecivilisedhigheraltitudes.Thiswouldprovethatthetropics
degraded people and any civilised endeavour. Others though would challenge this
approachandproposeonthecontrarythatthetropicsproducedcultureatitsutmost,
as a signal that all humans are equal and capable of producing symbolic values.
When the Iberians visited the area from the late fifteenth century, they were
struck by the natural setting, but also by the human settlement, not least the role
women played in those societies. They immediately thought about the ancient
Greek mythic Amazon ladies and named the region in homage to them. The
challengetowesternthoughtwouldcontinueforthenextcenturies,notonlyforthe
role of women in society, but also for several other reasons, not least the amazing
life in a most fertile rain forest.
vii
viii Foreword1
It is in this context and in those circumstances that we can understand Joana
Bezerra’s book. The Amazon basin is an area of present-day huge interest world-
wide,consideringitsenvironmentalrelevancefortheworldatlarge.Understanding
humanmanagementofthisrainforestareaisperhapscrucialnotonlyforthetropics
but also for world at large. Terra preta, the main subject of this volume, refers to
humanactivity.Itisprobablyawayofunderstandinghowhumanssettled,survived
and produced culture in the tropics, for several thousand years, contrary to what
somewouldsay.Morethanthat,itisastatementonthepossibilityofblossomingin
the tropics. Several scholars, and then ordinary people, considered that the tropics
would hinder any cultural development, condemning people in less temperate cli-
matetowitherortoremainatleastunderdeveloped.Pastandpresentchallengethis
reasoning and terra preta is just a thread in this chain of questioning old-cherished
certainties about civilisation and barbarism, development and underdevelopment,
past, present and future. Joana Bezerra has a unique background to study those
issues, with her upbringing in international relations and environmental issues, an
open-minded scholar, prone to accepting novelty as a precious gift. This book is
thusamostenticingandrewardingnarrative,notonlyforscholars,butalsoforthe
interestedreader.Readit,interactwithitandenjoythepleasureoffindingoutnew
stuff.
Pedro Paulo Funari
Foreword 2
The study of the interplay between Ecology and Political Science, aptly called
Ecopolitics, has become widely accepted and has experienced a significant grow
sinceitsinceptionbyKarlDeutsch’sEco-SocialSystemsandEco-Politicsin1977.
Yet, ecopolitical studies have predominantly focused on national policies con-
cerningtheenvironmentwithlessattentiongiventotheecopoliticsofinternational
relations.
This book by Joana Bezerra, an outgrowth of her Ph.D. dissertation, is a most
welcome addition to the ecopolitics literature. This is particularly true for the case
of the Amazon, normally the object of research through disciplinary lines, seldom
via multidisciplinary lenses and even less so from an international ecopolitical
approach. Displaying scholarly excellence, Joana emphasises the most important
aspectsofnationalandinternationalpoliticstounveilhowthestudyoftheAmazon
can often be an effective proxy of the international interest in that unique region
of the world.
Joana examines the function of terra preta, an anthrosol soil found in the
Amazon,inthedevelopmentscenariointhepastdecades.Herresearchgoesbackto
the 1960s, scrutinising the role that the Amazon occupied in the national and
internationalarenatoidentifywhycertainissueswerenotpresentinthediscussions
regarding the forest. This was justified because when the military coup took place
and inaugurated over two decades of military regime in Brazil, the absence of
certain important features of the forest, particularly terra preta, became evident.
Under the banner of “integrar para não entregar” (“integrate to avoid giving it
away”),theharmfulresultsoftheoccupationoftheAmazonbythemilitaryregime
have been widely studied, particularly the opening of roads that lead to massive
deforestation, decimation of indigenous peoples and the destructive dominance of
cattle ranching and mining activities.
However, Joana incorporates the “absence” of terra preta in policy decisions to
understand how the way in which the world, and Brazil, approached the Amazon
hadacleargeopoliticalinterest,inaddition,ofcourse,tomuchscientificignorance
about the importance of this unique type of soil for agriculture. If this would be
ix
x Foreword2
enough to indicate the importance of Joana’s work, its current value derives from
thefactaswellthatheranalysisaddressesthechallengesposedbycurrentissues—
namely climate change and sustainable development—which still reproduce the
unfortunate mistakes of the past.
After all, the emergence of terra preta cannot be understood solely from a
geologicalorbiologicalviewpoint,butasaclearresultoftheinteractionsofhuman
societies and nature. Adopting this perspective, as Joana does, allows the observer
tograspthetrueecopoliticalnatureoftheoccupationoftheAmazon,oneinwhich
that territoryisno longer perceivedsolely asa “garden”or storage andsupplier of
goods and services to Brazil and the world, but as an “actor” whose “actions” are
determinedbyitsoccupants’cultureandsocialorganisationandthosewhocontrol
it politically.
Inshort,thisbookdelvesintoseveralaspectsofthepolicydomainregardingthe
environment, and Joana navigates with expertise through different area of ecopo-
litical studies initsimportancetobothnational policiesandinternationalrelations.
Its reading is highly recommended to researchers, practitioners and students in
general. Anyone interested in the fate of the Amazon, in how science can address
the most pressing challenges of sustainable development and how international
relations have profound impacts in the perception of policy-makers and actual
publicpoliciesforthesustainableuseoftheresourcesoftheAmazonstandtogain
much needed insight thanks to this book.
Roberto P. Guimarães