The Brazilian Amazon in an Environmental Security and Social Conflict Framework

Abstract

This chapter offers an overview of the key historical factors influencing the contemporary Brazilian Amazon that responds to a dynamic that has emerged since the discovery and colonial period combining two myths of the richness of the Amazon basin, and of its open and unexploited space. This is essential for understanding the environmental security and social conflict approach to this region (70.2). Then this chapter analyses the dynamic link between environmental factors and security and social conflicts as a result of continuous interactions between systemic (Amazon) and supra-systemic factors (70.4). These interactions explain why environmental matters have been politicized (70.6) and to a certain extent militarized (70.7). This chapter attempts to explain why social conflicts are mainly a product of two systemic constraints of a misallocation of resources and of skewed land distribution (70.8). Thus, in most cases environmental change is no direct source of social conflicts, but an important aggravating factor through its sideeffects. Finally, in the Brazilian Amazon in most situations environmental scarcity is no key factor for social conflicts, rather in the northern state of Roraima abundance is crucial (70.9). Thus, the environmental scarcity hypothesis1 claiming the more natural resources are available in the system, the less likely conflicts are among its components must be revised. 70.2 Discovery, Occupation and National Integration of the Amazon