The clouds against progress: technoscience, environment and the U.S./Brazil “Radar in Amazon Project” (RADAM) (1970-1975)

Abstract

This article explores the creation of the “Radar in Amazon Project” (RADAM), a technoscientific project developed through a joint Brazil/United States technical cooperation, originally designed for Amazon territorial mapping in 1970 and then extended to national territory in 1975. More specifically, the article discusses the role of humans and non-humans during the project’s survey of the country’s natural resources that took place during the Brazilian dictatorship (1964-1985), with particular focus on how nature challenged the program. By analyzing original documents such as reports, ordinances, scientific papers, and newspapers available at the National Archive of Brazil and the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, this article discusses the entanglements between humans and non-humans in the formation of the RADAM; in addition, we explore how the project contributed to the development policy set forth by the military government. The paper is divided into four sections. First, technical cooperation between Brazil and the U.S. after World War II. Second, the creation of RADAM. Third, the role of the non-human/human assemblages within the emergence of radar as a new technology. Last, the paper discusses how the state mobilized RADAM’s achievements as a pillar of support for the dictatorship.