Environmental Racism Dynamics in the Amazon Region, in Pará State

Impacts of Agribusiness and Mining Activities on the Lives and Health of Traditional Populations

Abstract

Commodities’ production and exports in Brazil – whether they are produced by the agricultural or metallic-mineral sectors – have grown exponentially in recent years, a fact that evidenced the Brazilian economy dependence on this developmental model. However, in territories such as the Amazon region, in Pará State, such a dependence exposes the socio-environmental fragility of this model, which has left traces of deforestation, human rights violations and other aspects featuring environmental racism, in recent years. Thus, the main aim of the current is to analyze socio-environmental issues associated with mining and agribusiness in the Amazon region, in Pará State, to help better understanding the environmental racism dynamics in the region and its impacts on the lifestyle and health of traditional populations. The study adopted an exploratory quantitative research methodology, based on official data provided by Thomson Reuters Eikon Datastream and by the Brazilian Federal Government, mainly on information provided by the Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services (MICES – Ministério da Indústria, Comércio Exterior e Serviços) aboutagribusiness and mining exports. The main results have indicated the advance of agribusiness and mining activities in the Amazon region, in Pará State, as well as highlighted the environmental racism dimensions. In other words, results have emphasized the way both economic sectors mainly meet demands of the trade balance, the interests of both global players and economic elite groups that broker the pathway of destruction and death in the region.