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Transnational Institute Series

Th e Tr01nsn illion 01ll nsl ilule is O1 n ind epe nde n t fellows h ip o f rcsen rchc rs a nd
actlvists living in d ifferent parts o f the wo rld, who de velo p ln no va tive ana lyses o f wo rld affa irs, It serves no governm ent, polit ical part y o r i nt crcs t group ,

Privatizing Nature
Political Struggles for
the Global Commons

Other titles available In the TNI series:

Short Changed:
Afrlca and World Trad e
M ichael Botrott Brown and Paulin e Tilier:
People and Power In the Pacific:
The Strug gle for th e Post-Cold WiH Ord er
Walden Bello

Dark Victory:
The United States, Stru ctur al Adjustm ent and Global Povert y

Edited by

Walden Bello

Michael
Gold man
___----

Beyond Br ct.t o n Woods:

Alternatives to th e Glob al Economic Ord er
Edit ed by j ohn Cavanagh, Daph he Wysham and M arcos Arruda

0 '/

Blue Geopolltks :
United Nations Hcform a nd the Futur e of the Blue Helm ets
Vincent; Fisos
'-

'./'

-: j)

->:
/Jr;:;;-t!J?:J

Th e Debt Boomerang:
How Third World Debt Harms Us All
Susan Georg e
The Democratisation of Dlsempowerment:
The Problem of Demo cracy in th e Third World
Edited by j ochen Nippier

'~ ~~

The Next Threat:

Weste rn Perceptions of Islam
Edit ed by jo chen Nippier and Andrea Lueg

..

Pax Americana?
Heg emony or Declin e
jo chen Hippler
Central Asia After the Empire
Yuriy KuJchick, Andrey Fadin and Victor Scrgccv
Bonn &: the Bomb:
German Politics and th e Nuclear O ptio n
M art hins Kis n t ze!

Pluto

Press

in ass o cia tio n wi th

Palestine In Crisis:
The Struggle for Peace a nd Politicillindepend enc e After Oslo

Transnational Institute (TNI)

Graham Us her

l'or lnlor m atl on abo u t forth com ing liliL's in thi s series

4~

CO I I !; IC l 1'11110

I' ress.

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Social Movements and the

Remaking of the Commons in the
Brazilian Amazon
/vntonio Carlos Diegues

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In Brazil, common property regimes do not exist like arte facts from
an archaeological dig , existing toda y as tim e-worn version s of their
distant past. Although typi call y made ' ' invisible' by tile sta te and
other elite actors, rubber tapp ers, arti san al fisherfolk and forest
harvesters have successfull y struggled to reaff irm and rebuild th eir
co m m o n s as v iln ant co rn mun ity-ba sed institutions of n atura!
resource appropriation and land and water management. Under
co ns ta n t threat by land speculation, urbanlzatlon an d cap it alist
expansion, the cc rn mo ns non e the less surv ive in the hand s of
d iverse soclal grovps who, up until recentl y, ha ve been politicall y
"1'eak and geogra phically Isola ted .
"
Qllis chapter tries to sho w that co n trary to the convention al view
of tile ecological commons in the Bruzilian Am azo n , resourc emanagement institutions are not m oribund, a n d resource-usin g
commoners are not passi ve in tile face o f po werful acto rs eager to
transform tile Amazon into a profit-making mach ine. Recent a ttemp ts
to occupy and deforest tile Am azo n ha ve unlca sh co new socia l
movements that are rebuilding an d crea ting new co mmo n property
regimes as a strategy for democrati zin g pr o du ct ion a n d so c ia l
institutions in tile Amazon. It is from the se for est-based so cia l
movements - typically portra yed as back war d a n d in ' nee d ' of
modernization - that we see som e of tile more po siti ve effo rts to
transform Drazil into a more democratic and ccolcglcnlty sustainable
society. As they strengthen their ties with regional, nation al arid
international movements, COmmoners from tile Amazon appe a r to
be one of tile more serious challen ges to til e current n cullb cral
policies of tile stare. Their success in rebuildlng the comm on s in th e
Amazon, however, is ultimately linked to political strat egies elsewhe re
in Brazil. But, their efforts to build socia l inst itut ions of eq ual ity,
[ustlcc arid sustaio ability may become th e cat alyst for pro gressive
", I

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political change. starting fro m d eep wit h in th e Arn axon a nti

extending outwards to Rio and bc yorut .
'Tile commoners ' thrive in ma rgin .il but h iologi ca lly rich
eco systems, such as the Amazonian humi d for est. T hcir co m rnu nal
socia l institutions have existed in many form s and places, il ntl a rc
characterized by a co mmon utili zat ion o f ren ewab le resour ces SUCll
as fi sh. forest and medi cinal plants, cat t!e and produc ts 01' Siliitill :~
agriculture. Common approp riation regilI,c's typica lly exist alo ngside,
and ben efit fro m , sites whe re fam ilies ' pi iva tcly' grow, raise arid/or
produce vegetab le ga rde ns ari d dom cstica tcd a n tmals. h un t il lH I
gather. arid make craft produ cts. Access to these marine an d terrestr ial
resou rccs a nd space is depcnd cn t u pon pa rtic ipa t io n in tile sociaI
kin ship life throu gh comptulrio (ki nship/ goclp<H ent) ties. T he se
a ppropria tion regim es co n ti nue to prosp er in pa rt because or th e
strongl y held view t hat ren ewabl e resour ces m us t he co nserva tively
managed and not overe xpl oit ed .
These tradu lon nl in stitut ion s co n t r.ulict , in pract ice, l tar clinx
' t ragedy of the comm o ns' th eor y (196 8). In Ilis Il igilly inf lucn lial
writings, US biologist Gar rett Harcl in a rgu cd th at co m mo ners wou ld
necessarily overe xploit comm unall y owned resources, e! e .~ lroyin g
everyone's natural resource base, as well as prof ltabl lity . I\ut th e
Brazilian experience reveal s th at Hnr cli ns u n iversal rcrn ccly ro r
resource management - pr ivati zat ion - does no t nccc ss.ul ly lead to
a more rational usc of natural resources, as priva te :1pp ro pri,ltio n
schemes for cattle raising and large-scale il tjricult ure in t hc Amazon
over tile past 50 years have rtcrn on st ra tcd. In l1r azil, lnsrc.u ! o r
tillking about the 'tragedy of the co m mo ns' . o ne sho uld cons ider tllill
there is a 'tragedy of the commoners ' (t'-.,I c:Cil y an ti Acheso n 1em7),
;IS t hcy h a vc been consistently cx pe lled rrom t hc lr Iri1c lil io lLIi
territories through Iano speculation, lilfge xtntc-ow ncd hydr o-elcctn c
plants, and wildly irresponsible de velopment schemes.
From tile 1960s onwards, co m mo n property regim es have bee n
un dcr tremendous pre ssure and co mm on ers ;111 ov er Bril i',il havc
been stripped or thclr rights of access I II rencwah lc r l' SOl l rCl'~ , o l t e n
tilwugh violent cxp rop ria t io n . Ma n v rural C01 11 11l 111 1ili c's ilil \'('
mobil izcd ill response, ror cin g till' st;ll(' 1(J fo rm a lly rl'l'Cl gn ii',l' Illl'ir
rights. inclue!ing th os e wh o m till' sr.u c refers 10 , IS 'sq ua u crs: O r'
peop le witho u t property titles. For eXillJ"I'Il'; ill Illl' I(m Os, t lic \liltl'
reluctantl y agreed to set-up 'cx trnctivist reser v es: ( U'.I'('/I'I I .I' ('x l rll lil ,jl'/II.I' )
for rubber tap pers arid for fi shcr fo lk a lo l1 l : estua ries, rivers :1 11( 111;I)'S
in i hc Amazo n. Thu s, sp riuk lcd ;IO OSS til e .\ 11 1:1/011, O IH ' lil1 <1 \ S( l( iil l
1111l\'C'lllC'll lS ;Irlicu l;lli llg ;1 11;11i oll ill j1( lli: il':11 :li:I ~ll <l,1 I I I l ,h li /,l l l /t

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conunons in so me plac es and establish new co mm on pro perty regime s

in o thers, Remark ably, mo vem ent s have forc ed th,e sta te to l :ga ~I Y
, e th eir comm on pro pert y regim es as nati onal mod els tor
recognl z
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'su stainable de velopm en t' and for co nse rva tio n ot i ot ogtca a nc
cultural d iversity,
.
In th e Ilrazilian case, the rebuilding of common s ha s beel: p ~s:lbl e
on ly af ter the rebirth of democracy, aft er th e long years ?t millta~y
dictatorship (J9 66-S4), Th e mil itary regime promote~ eco n o ~~ lC
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: ooeraricns ario l2.,sc: power p lan ts ma t UJ d,, ;;.-:::/ , .,;'': ; J; ,r,, ; ' r' ,
d ~ ','3S!3tion of natural resources and ty.pr("p r~ri0rj rJ! tr~ (;jr!r" f; ;d
local communities of Indians, rubber tappers, 2n d riverin e {i :;htrf0I k
(Diegu es 1992b), The social reaction against th ese processes 'IIil'i at
th e same time cause and consequence o f the opening of n ew
democratic spaces in Brazil, through th e creation of rural un ions, local
m ovements, non- governmental g ro ups a n d pr ogre ssive p olitical
arti es. In this context, th e emergence of collect ive actions at the local
level (Ostrom 1990) wa s o n ly possible becau se th ey were backed by
lar ge so cial m o bili zation s, the rise o f a po werful political
co ns cio usn ess and the cr eati on ofnew cultur al sy m bol s,
Co llective act ion s conce rnin g the co m mo ns ha ve e r up te rac r o~
Brazit's vast landscape , m oti vat ed by a number o f socia l forc~~. Firsy,
~ lve e nv iro n me n tal degradation throu ghout the Amazolr-erid
Atlan tic forest has ' cult ivat ed an ecolog ica lly co nscious pop ulace.
Seco n , non- gov ernmental o rga n iza tio ns (NGO s) linked to
'iat iorial activist organl zuti ons have offer ed their support to
I
local co llective actors, mobili zing their capacitle s to exe rt pressur e on
m u ltila teral ban king institution s, indu stri al countries' parli aments
a nd the Brazilian s ta te. Th e s uc cess fu l ca m pa ig n to fin d Chi co
Me ndes ' killer as s up po rt, in pa rt, h is o rgan izing pla n s, is o n e
such exa m ple. "hird, so m e In dian and non-In dian cu ltu res ha ve
beco m e m or e ~ o c i;l y visible a n d better o rga n ized , O fte n the se
peopl es' or gani zati on s ha ve rece ived the supp ort of im po rta n t
nation al insti tu tions, SUCll as th e Cath ol ic Church. In the lat e 19HOs,
local m o vement s, NGO s and research groups were able to esta blish
im po rta n t alliance s around issues such as fo rest con serva tion, marin e
resou rces conser vation and socia l parti cipati on in rural areas becau se
o f th ese str n tcg ic allia nces . Th ese socia l a nd eco logic al pract ices and
pro cesse s a re cruci al fac tors in th e mov eme n ts to rebu ild co mmon
propert y regim es in Am azo nia .

Deforestation and the Conditions for New

Social Movements

~'

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T ill' recent occ u pa uo n of /\Ill azo l\i;\ mus! Ill' xc cu ill till' ( Ol l ll' x t or
Illo uerni i'.a tio n pouucs a nd ca p h al ,ICClIlllll!,\liOI1 <J Ill! IIO t Silllp ly ill
terll1Sof so-called develo plll ent. 13ecau se o f its po ssibilities for rap id
cap ital accumulati on , ov er th e last few deca d es. /\ 1l1 ,l zollia - lh e \,\Sl
'. i ;: ~ l i (j r';JII \ flr)(}l i(;1 ill I J I;I %i l - l l a ~ bl'l'n " ;il iljJl lltcrJ j i lt') tile !l:ltiClI1 :i1
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I:irst, 111f: icll'ol ol:iu " c1 i rf!(.' / I ~. i rJlI ill elk, I (il/ri lll: II ii' /.() 1",11 ', "I \
milit ar y rllll' (Iro tu fC)(, '1 (II I ~II'I ) was (1)(' ' l : l 'I 'I.~ r ; " , " i l'; i1 Vi I( uuru '. J I.dl
o f the Brazilian territory ha d to be occ upied ;11 ;I Il Y cm l. Sill u ' ti l l '
19 70s thi s st ra tegy had a clea r geo po litica l d irncn stnn . cx p rcsscc! in
hu ge eco no m ic pr ogr amm es suc h as th e N;ltio nal Int eg r:ll io n .
Progral11 , Long and costly higllways such as tile Tran sarna zon ;1I1d tile
No r t her n Perim etrililligh way (run n ing close io th c n orth ern frt1l1li t'rs
of th e cou nt ry) we re init iat ecl an d pa rtia lly co m ple ted . In order to
occu py th e region with Brazlltan s. th e gove rn me n t enco u raged the
arr ival o f landless peasant s from th e north east a nd Irom ar e;lS wi t h \
lan d co n flict s in th e so u t h , Hun dr eds of tllo, usa nds o f peas an ts
po ured into til e region, m ost o f wh o m lacked th e fll rlllillg experience
an d ca pita l necessary for su rviva l in a to ta lly di fferen t, aggressiVl'
tr opica! environm ent. SOIll C of these n cw rom c rs ar rivcd
spont un co u sly, att ract ed by the pu bl icized avai lability of chea p la nd ,
wh ile oth ers ca me in gro ups to se t lip o rgJ n ized settleme nts , as wasth e case in th e Sta te 01 Ro n do ni a.
t\,(ost se t tle m en ts quickly flli lecl . p r i ncipa ll y becau se o f 1:11111
cOllrlic ts, bu t also b cc.u ixc o ft he lo w k rtilily or til e Ior cst lan cl. 1:l c l\
of services (mar ket in g, ex t ens io n -wo rk i\IHI .'l OC i;11 in fr,lSlrtICl uI C)
an d an unfa mi lia r en vironme nt ([)iq~lIl'S I ;)9 2b ). I II fact , th e rcCenl
(lCC llp,llio n of /\ 111 37.on ia has rcsu ltcd in ti ll' Ili g l1l'st n um ber or 1:11)(1
co u fl lc ts, propo rtio na lly speaking, ill IIr,\zili;1I 1IliSl lll Y II O Ppll S( ' \ , Oil
til e o ne ha nd , th e tradit ion al dwellers (till' !\ll1 l'rilllli:lll t ri hcv, lill'
rivcr i n c a n d Iorcs t cx tract ivc p0[llila ticJl ls) ;llll l, Oil 11 )(' o tiur. 111 l'
ne wcomers, suc h as (arrnc rs a ud Ilr3zili:ln ;IIlll llltJl lillOl tiCl n:ll c:lllit'ril llch in g and IH illin g in te rests.

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By the mid-1970s the military go vernment's strategy had changed,

Replacin g agricultural settlements of small farmers we re grandiose
( mining projects (Gr.mde Carajtis). large darns (Tucurui and Balbf na) ,
ind ustr ial centres (5iio LUIS do Maranl1,l o and Manau s) reliant on
mineral processing and fre e zones, and large agribusiness projects.
The se projects benefited not only from a number o f tax incentives,
but also from the pl entiful cheap labour available, cornp oscd
r lnclpall y of those farmers who had abandoned their plots of land .
The second ideological dimension to the recent widespread
occu pa tion is the h llacicus assu rnption tha t th e Amazon could be
an instrument for solvlng overall structural problems brought about .
by the failed 'Bra zlllan economic miracle' of the 1970s based on
uneven capital accumulation in the southern regions . In fact, in the
mid-1960s , the already highly concentrated land-tenure system
b ecame even more unequ al as the result of the Iabou r-savirig
technology fcalled modernization) impJantedin the south. which
forced the labour force off the field s. Many of the small farmers and
tenants in the wealthy southern states were forced to sell their plots
as intensively mechanized soybean product ion expanded, which
required larger area s of land and less labour input. Many farm
workers, especially s.iarecroppers and other tenants, lost their sole
source of income. As 1 result, 2.5 million peasants migrated from the
rural areas of the state of Parana alone during the 1970s. Many
migrated to Rondonia, where they began clearing the forests.
Attempts to introduce land reform met fierce opposition from
big landowners. The fed eral government's modest attempt at land
distribution in 1985 was also a failure . Opposition to land reform ha s
also increased deforestation in Amazonia, as many big landowners,
fearing land reform, burned large tracts of forest to 'imp rove' the land ,
as a means of escaping agrarian reform in their latifundia . Accor ding
to Brazilian legislation, clearing of a forest is a sign that the landowner
. s using the land productively, and thus should not be expropriated.
The ideology of occupying Amazonia at any co sts was backed u p
l)y a seri~s of Incel:tives. for large li vesto~k-rilising a nd ilgriCl.i1turill
schemes 111 the region, since latex extracti on and nut harvc strng by
rrad i tion a I popula tions were considered backward econorn ic activit lcs
vh lch failed to effectively occupy, or sufficientl y utili ze, the tcrrirory .
Since 1966, when special subsiclies and incentives were created, .'lSI
Pro iects have been approved for agriculture and cattle raising (Oliveira
1989). These project s co ver an area of ov er n ine million hecta res, the
average area per proj ect bein g 16,:100 ha in Pa ra a n d 31, 400 h:l in
Mate Grosso: A study carried out by Yokorni zo (198 9) concluded that
of f) 2 projects analys ed, only three were pro fitable. Multinationat

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enterprises not o n ly bought laud in the re~i on, but bencfitet] [rom
in ce n tives as well and fro m the in frastru ct u re esta IJl is!1l:d in t h e
reg ion . b y the gov e rn m e n t. On e s tu dy (Eglin :llld T l1 ny J 91'12)
id e n tifie d 19 rnult i na tiona l groups in Am azo n ia, o wni ng
approximately 7,:142,0 00 ha of land, Lise e! for logging, cau le r;1ising,
agriculture and spec u la tio n.
Pasture for cattle is th e main use of th e d c.ore stcd lan d in A m azo n ia \
and the impact of thi s ca ttle raising on tl1(' forest env iro n me nt is \
Inl1CI) more seve re 111;1n th n: o f small [;1rmil1g acti vities, Acco rd illg
to ll a ll '( 19 H9 ) less labour-in tc nstvc form '; of la n d use ha ve t h c
11igllest impact on the Amazon fore st , as is tile case of loggin g ;11It I
ranching. Many stu d ies ha ve shown till' nou-su stalna bltu y o f C<lllic
ranching in the region (Hech t 19H2, l-carns idc 19H9), These sludie s
show that the initial enri chm ent o f soil s (fro m cutt in g lind bu rn ing
of bioma ss) is ba sica lly detrim ental to th e total ava ila ble su p p ly of
nutrients in the ecos yste m . Lacking the <Idences o f the d iversif ied
natural system, within a few years milny pa stures wer e invaded by
pests and weed s. Many ra n ch ers o vergra zed in so me ar eas a n d th e n
abandoned the det eriorated pastures. Tlu: h igh cos ts of che m ica l
fertiliz ers (Arn azon ia hns no known phosphate d eposits) a n d o f
weed control meant th at ranchers foune! it mor e proutautc to clear
new fores t th an to recu perate old pastu res (Go od land 1988). It is Clcar'1
"
th en, that large agricultural and cattle-rai sing pro jects (combin ed wi th
~
lan d speculation) were responsibl e for most o f the dcforc s tat ion , as
co 111 [l;1 red with fore st cuttin g by small farmers or slash-a nd-b u rn <l griculturallsts. In fact, larg e projects ha ve oft en expand ed their holui n gs
by buying out o r forcing small farmers o ff th eir lnn clx. SIll;l l l farm ers
we re frequently used by large com panies to clear the fore st, plant rood
crops for on e or two agri cultural seaSQII, and then grow paxturc
, (Gall 1978). l.oggin g companies also recc lved specia l in cent ives ill t ill'
lumber-extra cting area s of the State o f l'ar;) . In tile Sta te of Par.i
al one, lumber ext racti o n gr ew 4,000 per ce n t dur in g 1970 s (Sch mi n k
19HH) and logglng roads opened up acc ess for cleiHin g th e forest s,
T he failu re o f the previous stra tcgy is rvflvc tcd . for exam pl e. in t ill'
Iilrge number of sm a ll Ia rru c rs wh o aban clo ncd f:lnnin g 10 Il l' COfl)l'
go lt! place r m iners (~ (/ riJl I/ l('ims ) of te n roilnlin g [r om (JI ll' o r tile se OJl L'll
mining si tes to the oth er. Today thi s 'IU ilSi-11011LltJ pnpu lu t lon
c omprlsc x over (i OO,OOO people. C ol d pr'hl lectin g, lllld ert;1k v n 11)'
b 0111 placer miners and firm s is a wl d csp r-x u t pracl in' a lo n g ma n y
river a reas of Amazoni a, cau siug se rio us hl ~ :llll) an ti cnvi roruncn t.rl
problems .
l:roJ11 thes e state-inst igat ed m igr;1t ion fl ow s. ti ll' 1 ' t',\~ i () I1's 1)()I' II! :l lic )l l
ro se Irom a p p rox irna tcl y 2.6 m illi on i n h j hit a n t-, ill l 'JI )I ) ! f l iU ,

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million in 1989 according to the lGllE (Ll raziliiln Geographic and

Sta tlstical Institute). Betw een 1970 arid 19HO, the annu al population
gro wth in Amazo ni a wa s 5 per cent com pared with 2.5 per cent for
the countr y as a w ho le. Th is high increa se in population, however ,
was un evenly d istributed and is now con cent rated in th e capital citie s
in the north (notably Manaus and Bclern ), in the State of Rondonia
arid in southeastern Para . There is a generalized 'pull' effect on
population s of poor farmer s an d trad itional peoples a ttracted by
large econ omi c pr ojects. The increase in th e urb an po pul ati on has
been hi gher than that in th e rural region s and more than 65 per cent
no w live in urban centres, The slum ar eas in and ar ound th e cities
have incr eased dramati call y, even though job opportunities and
most of the social services are highly deficient. The rush of migrants
to th e ' attracti ve ' free Trade Zo n e of Ma nau s has been met with the
avai la bi lity of relati vel y few jobs.
,
The impa ct o f 'modern izati on' has resulted in the ind iscr im ina te
depletion of the forest in many regiori s. 13 y 1989, as much as 8 per
cent of the total Amazon had been deforested, an area almost the size
o f France. Recent studies sho w that the rh ythm of deforestation
d ecrea sed in 1992, but in crea sed agai n in 1993 and 1994 , parti cularl y
in Ron don la . so u th e rn Para 'a n d in th e newl y creat ed s ta te of
Tocan tlns (lNPE 1995 ). The im pac t of fore st clearin g is se rio us, not
o n ly in ecolo glca: term s (loss of biod iversity, aggravat ion of the
green h ous e effect, soil eros ion , etc.) but also in social and cultural
terms. The livelihood of the traditional popu lations ha s been dee ply
a ffected . As enormou s numbers of rubbe r an d nut tr ees ha ve been
felled, in co me and empl oym ent o ppo rtu ni ties ha ve been los t, forcing
people to mi gra te to th e u rba n areas. As productivit y decreased ,
after a few years of land cultivation, small farmers als o ab andoned
their plots and migrated farther north. In many cases the land was
sold to sp ecul ato rs from the so u th or to large nei ghbour ing cattle
ran ches. Man y migrant s th en became wag e earne rs on large
p la n ta tio ns Or else the y ve n tur ed o u t to th e placer min es in search
of gold. Native Indian reserv es are being invaded by these individual
miners as well as larg logg ing an d minin g companies, ma king them
tile most vuln erable communities in tile Am azo n,
By the en d of the 1980s there were sign s that tile go vernment was
int endin g to change so me o f til e most dal1laging polici es !l';Hfillg 10
d eforestatio n in Amazonia. In April 19H9 President Sarne y ann o u nced
a new programme for the region, called Ou r Nature tNoss N nturczu) .
Th is initiativ e enme at a moment when th e federal gov ernment was
u nder he avy o p po sitio n cl u e to a numb er o f diff eren t events . /\ few
month s before, the well -kn o wn lead er o f th e rubber ta ppers, Ch ico

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Mend es, was mu rd ered and h is d eath brou ght abo u t ,1 meli or natio n,l!
;Ind intcr natto n ni reaction . It is likely lhat the governmenl \VJS
co ncerned with the possible susp ensio n o r can ccllauon o f ,1 n umber
o f multilatera l loans, including til e Iollow -up of th e No rth- wester n
Developm ent Pro gram ( PO LO NO I~ O ESTE) , du e to pr essur e [ 1' 01 11
en vironmental ists at home an d abroad.
The Our Nature programme had a ver y nationali stic lone,
rea ffirm in g nra 7.ilian sovereignt y over Ama zo nia arid d eep co nc ern
[o r w h at sect o rs such as th e ar my call ed th e l!<l ng erous 'i n lcr na - .
t ionalization of the reg ion' . The pr ogramme in sli galed br o ad
e n vl ro nrn cn ral pr otectio n an d research activ ities arid establis he d
n ational for ests and parks. So m e lnvcst mcn ts by SUD AM (tile
government's su pervising organ -0r the Amazon ) were suspcud cd and
lim its were placed on rollod-lDz-e xports. By 1990, it was ;1150 clear
th at no m on ey hacl been alloc at ed for tile programme and not/lin g
im po rta n t wo uld com e from it, excep t for til e cre atio n of lilA1\'1/\,
nrazil's major env iro n m en tal in stitute.
In March 1990, the newly elected presid ent, Fcm;1I1d o Culle r de
Mello, took office in tile mi dst of a political crisis, an annu al in flatio n
rate of more t han 4,500 pe r ce n t, hi gh foreign deb t and a fall in tile
G NP. Collor appointed a hi ghl y respected env iro n me n tal ac tivist, Dr
t.ut zcmberger, to h ead a new en vironment al secretaria t, kno w n as
SE!\.'IA, with th e president's support to addressing the most pressing
en vironmental questions, particularly in the /\mJZOni;I:-0_~t al ball (\
oQ.Jocrotive..s..ao d o n th e expo rt o t hardwo od logs was es t;t1)I ~l
T here was also a commit ment to rem o ve go ld ~rOTT, ITl e
Yan omarni reser vati on and to halt the co ns t ruc tio n o f ne w pig-iron
s m elt e rs al ong the Caraj ils Rai lw ny . Fro m th e begill iling,
l.utzcrnbcrgcr [ought for a n ew style of d evelopment for Amazo n i;l,
,Int! attempt ed to halt the pavin g of tile higll wily cxtcndiru; [rom IZio
lira nc o, in th e Brilzili;1I1 Sta te of Acre, to l'ucalha ill l'cru. He f;\VOll ITd
for est mana gem ent and extra cti ve reserves. lIy th at time , deforestat ion
W;I Sac tuatly slOWin g dow n, mo re clue to tile ckepelli ng fin,IJH'i;lI crisis
t ha n to a sea-cha ng e in gov ernment;ll acti on .
l.utzcrnbcrger so o n ran in to enormou s op po sitio n 11'0111 va rious
soc ia l sect o rs, inc luclillg rue e nv irO lll1 \C n l;1 11110VC I1 1C 111, who \lq~; l l l
n iticizi ng h im for beil1g m ore ac tiv e o utsi de Ilr;\zil 111;ln imi de ,
w livr c crll cial c n vlro n m e n t a l pr o!l \('l11s were \)ein g ii:no red .
t.u rzern bcrgers s tro nges t o p posl tion c.uu Ir om t hc Ill'wlv l'kl'lel l
gov ern o rs of tile sta tes whi ch co m p rise Aillilzon iil , most llf IV llOlll
f;\V(Hlred devel opment of the region .u ;II1 Y cos t. Tlles e gl)\'l' I' I1C1 rs.
!J;l cked by th e sa me soci,t1 co nservativ e forces tllal !1iltl l1l' l1l'1iletllrOl ll
t h c previ ou s inc en tives, a lso rccclvcd suppo rt 11el l11 seC llllS (I I I I\!"

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army, whi ch believes Amazoni an NGO s ar e directed b y North ern

govern me n ts in or d er to diminish the so vereig n ty of I3ra zil over the
Amazon region. Lobbying by these govern or s a n d members of the
Congress is ve ry strong, a n d it appears that so me o f th e de struc tive
in ce n tives w h ich h ad been eliminated a re now m a kin g a return.

DeforestatIon and the ExtractIvIst

PopulatIons
In Amazonia a lar ge rural population reli cs o n the forest and its
products for survival. Approximately 1,SOO,OOO peo ple, o r 33 pe r cen t
of Ama zonian rural population, harvest for est products in .
combination with subsiste n ce agriculture and fishing (Allegretti
1987b). In additlon , the Am erin d ia n population, of approximatel y
220, 000 persons, also rely on forest produ cts suc h as rubber, oils, fruit s
and 'fib re. While e x t racti ve production h as declined in terms of th e
share of the total d oll ar-value income generat ed in Acre, Amazona s
and Rondon ia from 1970 to 1980, it is still of substantial eco n o m ic
im portance and its va lue continues to increase in abso lute terms . In
Acre, wh ile th e area occu pied for extraction decreased from 197 0 to
1980, and th e ar eas o f cattle ranching a nd agri culture increased
dramati cally, the pel h ectare value of extraction in creased much more
than either meat ur c ro p production . At th e sa m e time, rubb er
exports increased a's a share of overall st at e exports. The busin ess of
ex t rac ti o n, th erefore, lia s become an attr ac tlvc de velopm ent
a lte rna tive to cattl e or agr lculturc for sm all producer s. Wh ere as
almost half of the small producers in the Ama zo n ea rn less than the
minimum wage, tile average annual income for forest extractors in
the early 1990s was US$ 1,500, or twice the minimum wage (Allegrett i
1987<l). Moreover, the greater sustain abillty of ex trac tive <lcti vitiesthey do not destroy forests - makes it a more attractive long-t erm
alternative.
Rubber tappers typi cally live in cotocacses, w h ich are both liv ing
areas arid productive units in the fore st. In th e centre of cotocacoes,
scringueiro families build houses made of paixiubu (a palm tree). Mo sl
of the cotocacoes ar e established a t the side of a n ('(c/rtlpe (sm all rive r).
This product ion u o it is customarily around 300 to 60 0 hecta res in
are a. The latex is collected from the rubber trees and transformed in to
rub ber through 's mo kin g Over a fir c. In t he cotocuciio, shift in g
agriculture, hun tin g a nd fish ing are also csscnf ial Iivclih ood acu vlucs.
Every da y, t h c scr iuguelro wa lks several kilometres throu gh a path
cull ed cs trtu la ria Sc!,-ins n. ln' o rd er to ear n a m in im u m in come, th e

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scti ny ueiro h as to ext ract lat ex from 100 r I SO trees dail y, produ cin g
aro u n d 500 kilogr arn s o f rubbe r. In o rder to su rvi ve, eac h serinSlicim
has to wor k so m e 200 to 300 ru bber t rees (Alleg retti 19 87a). Th e re
is n o di vision of labo ur in th e rubbe r ex t rac ti o n proc ess. T Ill' lap pin g
and lran sfo rm ation i nto lat ex is do n e i n d iv id u al ly by the scringuciro,
who sta ys th e w h o le d ay in the for est. Under th ese cond it lo ns. eac h
seringneiro fa m ily is very isolat ed ax sc:ringllC' iros a re di xpc rsccl
throughout th e for est. As explaine d ab ov e. th e m ain o u tside co n tac t
of th e seri ngueiro is with the bnr raciio , a wa reho use bc longing to th e
rubb er baron, wh e re h e buys what he need s a t a high pr ice. The (rcc
producer deals wi th th e rnidd lerna n (((-'Sf/fli t)) from w ho m Ill' I JlI Y .~ t11 C
go ods 11 C n eed s.
Th e impact of deforestation on til e serinSlicirus has been d isnstrou ,
prom th e b eg innin g o f the 1970s, w it ll t h e state po lici es o f
e n co u rag ing occupat ion o f Ama zoni a base d o n cat tle rilisillg :1 IHI
fiscal incenti ves, th e strua t ion o f th e ru bb e r ra p pers wor st-u cd
dr a m nt lca lly . Th ese policies cont ribut ed to c ha nges in 'ilnd
ownership a nd use th at dcprivco the rubl-rr rappers of access to th ei r
trad itiona l sources of livclihood . Sin ce l/ ;(" 19 70s, th er e h as been all
increas in g con centrati on of land in the ha nds o f a few large ow ne rs,
m os t of whom co me fro m the sout h . At tile same time, th e numb er
of small er holdin gs ha s Increas ed . In Acre, for insta nce, be tween
1960 and 197 0, th e a rea predomin antl y devo tee to cxtrac uo fell
by 65 per cent, wh ilc the a rea devot ed to agri cultu re tncreascu o : ()
per cent and ca t tle ranchin g by 132 p e r cc nt. Dur in g th e sa m e
pcr iod , th e number of h olelings d evot ed to cx trnct ion in c reased b y
over 1,0 00 pe r ce n t, im plying that t he tr.rdit io na l rub ber-p rodu cin g
estates wer e fragm ented as rubber b aron s wlth drcw o r solei o u t an d
independ ent rubber pr oduction W;l S ta ke hy free ru bb er tap pers. In
1970, til e number of holdings smaller tl1 ;111 SOO hectares rep resented
.')7 per cen t o f til e total numb er of !loldings whil e in I 9 oo, th ese
w e re only 9 .5 p e r ce n t o f th e ho ldin gs (Sc h war tz ma n 1 9( 9).
Con sequ ently th e n umber o f small pr odu cers, pa rticu la rly rent er s
and occupants, Increased. Th is reflects the eme rgence of autonomo us
rubber ta pp ers who arc IMgely occu pa nt s with preca rious tenu re or,
in xo ruc C;l SCS, rent ers.
Co nseq ue n tly, la rge ru bber tree ;tn dl ll'lzil lltl t-l rc'l' :lr l': \S :\l l' hl' i l l~ I J '
tr nn sforrn cd in to cnt t lc ra ncl u -s. A l t h ouj}: th ese tr ees are pr OI l'l'Ilt\
by law a nd sh ou ld 11 0t be cu t, a ll o ther tre es ar c usu all y n i l .u u l
burned . This hlnd crs til e su rvival o f th e p ro tec ted trees w h ich rcm .ri u
seuu -bu r nc d ;l nd Iso la ted in tile m id d le (,( new Jl<lSIIIl' CS, One o f I Ill'
:lfl':lS of w idc sprcao d estru cti o n of l\r:1 /.;1 I . I IL il l1( 1 ru l il u -r tn '('s is t l u :
so u tl ic rn part or Pilr;1w he re Illiln y 1:1rge C,l t l !c -r :l i si ll g rMl ll S IL I\'l' 1)( 'l ' ll

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establishe d. In th e same a rea, pig-iron plants ar c being developed an d,

as a co nseq uence , large areas of those valu able trees a rc bein g cut a nd
b u rn ed for cha rcoal. i\t the sa m e time, Jogg in g ac tivi ties also
resp on sib le for the d estruction of Brazil nut trees, ar e in cr ea sin g
dramati call y (Alleg re tt i 1987 b) . The ex pan sion o f ca ttle ran ch es and
o th e r la rge (us ua lly sp ec u la tive) holdings is resp on sib le for th e
exp u lsio n o f th e seringueiros from their traditi on al land s a nd ac tivit ies.
Ma ny o f th em beca me wage earners On th e ranch es o r h ave m igrat ed
to th e o u tsk irts o f th e n ew tow ns of Am azo n ia. o tt e n th ey beco me
tem por a ry worke rs, mi gra ti n g from o n e p lace to a no ther, Or h a ve
e nte red go ld -mining ac tivit ies as garimpeiro.
No t on ly a re th e rub b er-ta pping ar eas bein g red u ced but
d efo restatio n is also affecti ng the avai lab ilit y of fish in the isnm/)es
a nd game from the for est, w h ich de pri ves' for est extrac tor s o f th eir
m ain so urce s o f p ro te i n ~ve rs ar e also bein g po llu ted by m ercury
used by th e garimpeiros (Pe trere 1989) . Ri ver fishin g is s till th e m ost
impo rta n t so urce o f pr ot ein fo r th e Am azo n ia n popu la tio n a n d fish
co ns u mp tio n th ere is highest in Braz il, ov er 35 kg pe r person per yea r.
(Dieg ues 1992 a). Fisl1i n g also emp loys a lar ge number of peop le
eit h e r for subsist en ce o r for commercial purp oses . Bu t in recent
yea rs, la rger fa rm er s a re pu tti ng fen ce s cl se to t he rivers, creat ing
serio us co n flicts with trad itio na l
the sa me time, pe op le
comi ng from ur ban a reas us in g p reda tory fish ing gea r ar e dep leti n g
th e fish s upplies In the a rea . As a result, riverin e fish er fol k are
o rga n izi ng t h em selves to m a n age th e Jakes - th e bio log ica l I~ riches t
a reas - o n a com m u na l basis (Ha rtm a n 1989, Lou rei ro 1.99JJ
T he In d i an popu la tio n in Amazo n ia is th e si ng le hu m a n grOUf1
suffe ring m ost fro m defo res ta t io n and relat ed large deve lopme n t
p rojec ts suc h as min ing, d a ms a nd roa d cons truc tio n . Since th e
Europea n co lo n iza tion of Braz!l began 500 yea rs ago, th e n u mber of
ind ige no us peo ple hasd ccl ln ed from six m illion peop le to its cur ren t
./"V level o f about 220,000 . T h ese su rv ivo rs speak mo re t han 140
la n gu ages and dialec ts. Prior to th e a rriva l of th e Europea n s, th e
in digen o us po p ulatio n was widely d istribu ted ac ross Brazll , co nsistin g
prima rily o f hun ter-ga th er ers, m an y of them livin g in the Amazon
fo rest. T h ese Amazo n ia n peo ples w ere th e las t ind ige no us gro u ps to
be d estro yed by co n tac t w it h the col oni zers, m ainl y beca use they
lived in iso la ted for est ed a reas . Th e pr og resstvc clisp lacc men t of
in d igen o us peop le resulted fro m ph ysical exte rmi na tion, enslavement
a nd espe cia lly the sp read of n ew dis eases to w hic h th ey had n o
U \ resistan ce. So m e 70 per ce n t o f the rem ain in g ind ige no us populatio n
lives in th e n or th a nd cen t ral-wes t regio ns wh e re We ste rn-sty le
'civil iza tion ' has o nlyrcccn t ty a ppea red (CE DI 191-\7 ).

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1\lte r 19 10, the I\razil ial1 au tho ru ios ado pted Illlw ;u res dc sigll cd to
p ro tect n ati v e peop le from th e m o xt ex treme Io rrns of v io len ce a nd
o t h er co nditio n s il'ading to long-t erm popu lati o n dccl inc. Some
i nst it ut io us like FUNA! (p revi o us ly SI)I) wer e c rea ted 10 prnte ct
Ind ian co mmunlt l cs. bu t th eir act lvi ticx wer e ofte n illC' lleClive ill
c hecki ng con tinu ous agg ressio n by ou tsid ers. a ne! so me times even
abe tted it. Du ri ng t he first h a lf o f th e twc n t ic th ce ntu ry alon e. SOI11l'
1-\7 dis tinc t In d ia n groups we re ex te rm ina ted (Fa rre n 1< ) ~ 9 ).
T!lC mai n po licy 10 pro tec t Illlli,ll1 S has hcvn to l's lill> lish ' rcscr vcx'.
II )' 1990, so m e 27,()( )(),()()() h ectar es o f la nrl ha el I>Cl'1l W I ,lsi<!l' as
rese rves; alm o st h alf o f tll is ar ea was i nrl ud cd in th e laxt fou r yt':lrs.
Many of th ese reserves, however, have n ot been ph ysically d cli nva tcd.
AS th eir lim it s a re 110t clear, l nvnsio ns by logger s, SlIrili l/Jt' ;ms, Iil rge
co mpanies, rau c h c rs . spec u la to rs and o t he rs a rc co m mou a nd
freq ue n tly lead to op en co nflic ts. T h e ext en sion o f these reserves is
o ften crl t tci zcd h y lar ge agr il"u ltur; i1 a nd mi ning illt erest s w ith the
a rgume n t tha t too mu ch 1,II1d has been alloca ted to too Iew Illd i;lllS.
Oth er Brazilians, h o weve r, sugges t lh at th ese Illl li;1I1S have inha lliled
th ose are as fo r cen tu ries ;1l1c1 that th ey requ ire access to l:lrge ar e,lS
of fores t in o rd er to su rv ive. Mo reov er, th ey poin t out t ha t ill Ilra?il,
the lan d CO ilt ro lled by on ly a few lat ifu nd ia rios is far mo re th a n ;il l
tha t h as bee n set asid e as I n d ian reserv es. Ov era ll, th e th re,lts to
In dian lan d s come from a number o f so u rces, inc luLi ing inVi\sions o f
gn ltl - arid cassit erite-m in in g o peratio ns, ("o l1l n1 ercial logging , 1,111( II<: ss
pea sa n ts a n d lar ge dam s. Togeth er, th ey th rea ten to co m p le te ly
u nrlcrm in e l n di a n soc ia l inst itu tions iln d til e ecosys te ms Oi l w ilic il
t hey depe nd .
a conseq u ence o f the se in vasio ns, Am azo n ia is at p rcsc ut tile 1
region wi th the h ig hest rat e o f lan d co n fl ic ts in IIra/.il. T he unp lan ned
occu patio n of til e a rea has led 10 111i1 ny Ile;11ed ,Iill! oft l'll v io lcn t J
d ixpu tcx thro ugh out th e regio n be twee n squ a u crs o r o the r occ upa n ts'
p rcca riou s te n ur e and la n clh o ldc rs. Th ose Cl,1i llli l1 g
lilies
to the lan d arc o fte n th e mu ch [c ared sri1<'i(()s (Iii IIII sp cc u l.u o rx)
1V11O ("~ l11 l11ol1 ly engage pis tolei ros (h ired gl lllnl ell) in o rd er 10 <!riVl'
.m .i l ] tan n er s o t l th e lalll! t h cy occup y. l.a nd tenu re, <'Sp l'Cl illly
;lcce ss to litlll i fo r cult iva tion :llll I IHllISillg, is cu rre n tly 111l' l11 ml
co n flict ive soctal alll i poli t ical issu i ll Ih ill rl'gillil. Tlll'Sl' C( llll lill\
h. ivc IW ('II agg rilvill ed 1>)' t h c gn ver lllll l'111'Srl"lrl';r1 ill I'JIlH (r C)1I 1
pro posing lo n g-pro ll1i sed p rog r,1 111111l' S cd' ,lgr:Hi dll nl o rm . 1III11 LIII
rigl lt s abu se s in till' Ama zon rcg io n ar c :11 1 pa rt icu lnrlv tT lll rl"d
aro u n d land tenure issu es (la r rc n 10H0).
v io len ce. h o w ever . is no t l im i tcd s lricl lr to l.uu i t it l is';IIl'S hut i\
,,!so used I))' l.u i d lo rcts to ol i t a i n chcn p Iabour . r--IC1\\ (1 1' till' \\,(\rkl' r\

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'i n the [azendas (livestock and agricultural estates) are hired through
middlemen (gatos) to clear the forest. Most of the workers are financed
y the gatos and as a result are in debt to them. In many cases they

re stuck in the [azendas without being able to lea ve as they are not
, n a position to pay their debt. This debt peonage is made effective
through usc of force . Many rural union and Indi an leaders have been
k il led in conflicts over land and labour. So too have sev eral
progressive C a th o l i c priests who took positions in , favour of tile
rural poor. During the last 20 years, over 150,006 people were
irr, olv ed in land conflicts in the region, resulting in thousands of
death s of rural lead ers, particularly in the states of Para, Maranhao'
and Golas.

Rebuilding the Commons through New

Social Movements
Un til the 1960 s, social conflicts in the region were not as acute as they
have been since, and local populations were not as well-organized to
oppose domination ;;n d exploitatlon. During the last two decades,
however, the local populationhas been deeply affected by tile violent
processes of land a n d natural resources expropriation. Ma ny
negati vely affected groups have started to rea ct an d to organi ze.
By the end of the 1980s, a series of national and international
events and situation s placed Amazonia in the public spotlight. First,
when the military dlctatorshlp ended, several social groups and
political parties seeking constituencies were instrumental in
organizing a politics of protest and resistance amongst rubber tappers,
homesteaders (posseirns), Indians and small-scale miners ('(ari/7/fJeiros).
In the 1970s, agenci es of the Catholic Church (e.g, Pastoral l.arid
Commission (CPT) and the Missi onary Council o n tile Indigenous
Peopl e (ClMI)) publicized incidents of violence in the region, openly
critici zed the military and assisted in the creation of rural un ion s and
other local institutions. Soon after, the seringueiros and indigenous
co rn rn un ltles started a number of political organ iza tio ns, such as tile
Union of Ind igenou s Nations (UNI).
Internationally, too , the Amazon hit th e spotlight. First, in tile late
1980s during a seven: drought in the US, so me scien tists and environmentalists started to make the links b etween large-scal e
defore station in the Amazon and the 'greenhouse' effect caused by
incr eased fore st burning. Several net work s were establishe d bet ween
Brazilian and US NGOs denouncing deforestation and violence in the
Ama zon . US NGOs suc h as the Natural Resources Defen se Co u ncil,

tile En vir onment al De fen se Fu n d a nd til e Na tio uat Wildli re

Federation started lobb ying til e US C Oll gr(' o~ s to pressure tile Wo rld
Ilau k and the Inter Arncrlcan Development llallk to sto p rlll1llillg
large projects that were carving lip th e forest, particularly in Rond oni a
arid Acre (PO LONOllO ESTE).
Due to these pressures, the World Bank Ilalte d disbu rscui cn ; o f the
POLO NOnOESTE loan , pendin g corn pltancc by th e gove rn ment
with new loan conditi o nalities tllat supcrtlci nlly, at least , co vered
forest and ind ige n o us peo ple' s prot ecti on issues. Th ese politi ca l
p rcssu rcs p rovoked sur pr ise a nd r csen t m cn t ;llllo ngst llr:li', ili<lll
politician s a n d th e milit ary, sti rring up sus p icio n that forei gll agent s
were behind these en viro n men ta l con cerns. Many be liev ed th at till'
sudden ilppear'lnce of Amazo n ian leaders. !:II CIl as Ch ico Mend es an ti
Indi an chiefs (cacique s), in fore ign cap.tats W'lS actu all y a med ia
strateg y to mask imperi alist ic d esign s OIl th e Amazo n's natural
resource base. But as one observer points Jut:
Th e danger of in tcrnn tio nalisation o r Amazo nia evo ked by t lie
Brazilian Government is a myth, to the ext ent that society has lon g
been part of a national/tran snational wo rld . Moreo ver, it is a
m ytil rh nt can be used to co ver up the per versit y o f the natio na l
policy for regional occupati on. It doe s not, how ever, exclude th e
realit y o f politi cal pre ssure by go vernments and int ernati on al
corporations brought to bear under n ew form . Plan et-wid e
awaren ess is rea! and it is active, whic ll docs not preclude, ho wever,
for ma tion of a form of ecol ogical ldco logy favo ur ing th ose very
forms of pressure. (Becker 1992:95)
Ily the end o f the 19H05, part icularly ;\rll' r the assassill;llioll or rublxr
tapper leader Chico Mendes, forest dw ellers ru llicd to Iorm a n.u io u .r:
coal ition to protect the ir interests . In 1')89, tile Ka yapo lndia ns,
aft er expanding th eir ln tern at ional public campaign s. ho st ed a sixday First Encount er of Native Peoples, in Alta rn ira. Xingu, in whi ch
o ve r GOO in d ige no us lead ers, Braz ili a n and fo reign sup por ters,1
[our nallsts a n d a few cel ebrities partici pated. They co ndem ned th e
in vasion of tile Ya nomanu Indian s' 1;\11(11 1:-' n ew EI.FTIZOl lR/\,'; pla ns
to build sev era l large dams in the 1\ 111 ~ 1' () ll . 1"lcil ll\vhile , protc st
rorCt'd th e World llank to withd raw IOi1J1 ,~ (0111 Ilri1 7.il '5l'J1C'rgy sect o r
and , ins tead, provide (very sma ll) fu nd s for en crgy co ns erva tio n
which further enraged llrazilian auth or ities.
O lle gov ern m en t strategy to control de rc 1l'esta tio n in the I\ IJ1;17.0\'}
is tile esta blishm ent of pr ote cted areas, Stic h :l S nnt ioua ! P; lrKS a nd
ecol ogical stnrio ns. Th ese a rc.rs ar e ;11, 0 n l'il !t'd to I11 Cl'l ti ll'

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requirements of international institutions, such as the World Bank,

when large development programmes such as the 1'0LONOIlOESTE
arc funded. One of the contradictions in this process is that such
protected areas follow the North American model of creating
wilderness in which no dweller is allowed to stay (Diegues 1996).
Brazilian legislation on protected areas unequivocally states that
rubber tappers, riverine groups and ar tisanal f ishcrfolk are not
allowed onto their own territories in order that certain places can be
' p rese rved ' . This environmental policy has sparked nuru cr ous
conflicts as local populations have refused to leave their land,
By the late 19805, resistance to jand eviction became so strong that
a new form of protected area was proposed, commonly called
'extractive reserves'. The creation of this new category of protected '
area - in which locals can actually continue to live and work - was
a direct result of sustained protest movements by 'commoners',
especially rubber tappers and artlsanal fishcrfolk, often with NGO
assistance. Today, there are nine extractive reserves covering two
million hectares on which more than 28,000 people live (CNPT
1994). The economic activities in these reserves include small-scale
fishing, babassu and Brazll ian nut-tree harvesting and rubber tapping .
The most remarkable aspect of these reserves, however, is that they
represent a resurgence of locally managed common property regimes.
That is, social and political confrontations over the past two decades
between traditional populat ions and both large landowners and the
state have led to innovative, practical and democratic reconstruction
of threatened common property regimes as well as the creation of
Ill'I"

c~T<:'s.

In this vibrant pollucal lam scapc, three distinct strands of activism

rhr ive in the Amazon. First"
ton01110US local moverncnts unrelated
to broader social
vc cuts are rcsponcling. protesting a n d
organizing around aggressive and unjust state actions. .vbovc all, they
are fighting to defend their territory and social institutions against
external interventions . Although they a'~1 ca s tile weakest of the
t hr ce types, they are more dtsperse I across t h e map. more
spontaneous and perhaps more abundan . Seco .Joca: movements
wi t h incipient alliances with non-local N(~(:). arc working to figllt
projects. lcgtslatlon arid other p essiv e state activities. Tiley appeClr
to be better orgnnlzcd. witl 110r(' f lcililies ;]nd non-local support to
sustnin forms of resistanc _. Third he rubber tappers have organized
the extractive reserves m v nrent . They arc well connected to larger
social movements, but their strategies, skills and tools conic mostly
from within their local ranks . The rubber-tappers movelllent emerged
in the 1970s during the heigllt of conflict over land gr,l1J~ ill Acre;

a t t hn t point, they organized tile first ru ral uui on ill 11\;]zil. Ily 19H5,

they had organi zed a national council ;]5 well as a cons tructive plan
for extractive reserves. Only by tile mid-19HOs did they starr to link
up with other national and international social movements. As we )
will show below, these three typ es of comm ons-based movements l
collccttvcly reflect the diversity of practices, politics and w orldviews
of Braz ilians dependent upon the commons for their livelihood .
nrazil has two types of social movements of tr adi t ional
comrnunitics l ivi nj; in protected ;lrea s - local movement s with and
with out direct links to broad n at io na l movements . Tho se wi t hnu t
links CJn be cons idered as local reactions against the adm iu istr atlon
of conservation or protected areas that curtails traditlonal forest
harvesting. hunting and agr icultural practices. They are also local
s po n ta n eo us reactions again st terr itorial invn sion s by o u ts.d crs . ,I
process that can result in the unofficia l dcclarnt ion o f an ' exc lusive
resource use un it' b y the envir on mental a uthor it ies. Tiley ha ve
succeeded in pressuring park adrnlntsrrators to oren lip negotiating
channels on the alter native usc of natural resources. These 10e;]1
movements or institutions are, however, incipient ancl weak a nd slill
subordinate to stare administration s.
Spontaneous local movements arc local instances of resist ;lnce\
ilnd organization of small-scale local cxtractivist producers, ill defence \
o f their t rad it ion al territory, They have t lic objective o f g:lining
control over acc ess to naturnl resources, and wh ich in so me iusran ccs
c a m e to be recognized by InAlvlA (Instituto Ilra sileir o do lvleio
Ambie ntc) as legitimate (or t olerable) lorrns of action . One example'
is tile case of the fishers of Ilio Cuiaba, n car 5 ;11110 Ant on io do ('
l.cvcrgcr, who t raditiorially fished witl: canoes a nd hand-un cs ill tlt: cp
po ols in the river tha t were rich in fisll. Tiley would SI' I' fl( 1 he Iixh i 11(;
sues - that is, throw corn or other types of Iood in till' water regul ;H!y
10 attract fish. Recentl y, amateur fishers from southern II1':1 i'.iI have
began to appear with motorboats and have preyed 011 till' fislling
resources, without uslng the S(' I' U ( method. III reaction, lo cals Ior rnccl
river patrols ariel only pcrrn ittcd the 'So u th ern e rs' to fish if they used
the t radit ion a l way o f the region. This method , however . rle ill a nd s
t~r(';\l :lhilit y, heClLl.~t' tIlt' Inc:" fishers tin 1101 liSt' IVt'igllt s 10 ;lncllOr
t lu-ir bO:1tS . Rather, they use one h;]lld to p:lcltlle ,IIHI tile other to IIUlti \
tl\(' l inc, which t ur ncr l 0111 ro lx- illlpns'\ibk (or t lrc xo u t h c ru S p O rl
fisllcrs. IIIAMA later rccog n izcd t his lora t io r: ilS :111 ,Hl';1 lo r t h c
e xclusive use of local [ish c rs, giving il i hc character of n .uura l
roxourcc conscrvatiou .
Ano th er ;]U!OllOlllOU S movement of fhllers M (' tilt' OIIC S \\" I H \ Il ;I~ .
L'lllk ctivel y closet! off \;lk es ill till' Alll;1/OI1 r",~i ( )ll "l" llt,\"

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commaniti es ha ve assu m ed co n tro l o f the terr itor ies that th ey h ave

traditionall y occupi ed but which now were threat ened by commercial
- .. fish ers coming from the citi es. for exam ple, m any vargeiros a nd
rlverlne co m m u n ities o f Amazo n ia have had access to the ir local
fishing sites reduced toy the fen ces of large land o wners. Co m mc rcia l
fish ers from the cities are also employing predatory fishin g equip me n t
to ov erfish th e wa te rs. The vargeiros from man y river s o f Am azo n ia
spontaneously cl os ed lakes for tile sak e of th eir surv iva l a nd to
protect the natural resources. mAMA even tua lly express ed som e
sup po rt for these fish crfol k t hr ough th e est ab lishment o f fishi ng
reserves in Amazo nia. Th is struggle has produced mo re th an new rules
of access to the lak es. Accordin g to one observer:
_/

T he closi ng of til e Jakes h as brou ght to gether a m ovement to

del ineate the ir terr itories, wh ich in practice amo u n ts to small
community ownership. The affirm at ion of commun al own ership
is, in this context, an affirma tio n o f co m m una l respons ibilities and
rights sh ar ed by con sen t of the co m m u ni ty members, who d ep en d
for their subsisten ce on the use of a specifi c territory, witho u t,
h owever, having an) ' legal basis for this affirmation. (Ayres and
Ayres 1993:3)

/(

Th ese processes of communal app rop riatio n ha ve been m et, however,

w it h ex t ensiv e ph ysical v io le n ce: In one conflicti ve situa tion,
IBAMA's pr otected a rea o fficials joined up with the fed eral Po lice to
har ass qui/ambo communiti es (o rigina ll y est ablish ed by esc a ped
African slaves as places o f refug e) of the Trombetas River area for th eir
extra cti vist activities 0 1' fishing and n u t collecting. In 1979 , the mDF
(Which be came IBAMA) cre at ed the Ecologic al Reserve of Tr ombet as,
in an area long us ed by the inhabitants of Tro m betas. 1l3AM A,
ass isted b y th e feder al Police, took hunting an d fish ing eq u ip men t
from the residents, in .l manner si m ila r to th e repr essi on b y m in in g
companies that had become established in th e area, suc h as Alcoa,
Mirieracao Rlo Nort e and Eletronorte, who were consid ered by th e
Afro- Btaz ili an s from T romb et as as ' fore ign' in oppos lt lo n to th e
local popul at ions. The est ablishment of the eco log ical rese rve 0 11 th e
left sid e o f the Trombetas River, and th e later creation , in 19R9, o f
the National Forest 0 11 the right sid e o f th e same river, m ad e the way
o f lite of these pe op le un viabl c. Th ose w ho in sisted on stay ing o n
th ci: land we re not al loweclto hunt, fish or -plant crops. For th ese
fro-Brazlli ans, the restrictions impos ed by IBAMA were considered
,,; a new slav ery, d estro yin g their way of life, and thre at enin g th eir
cultural connection s with th e fall s an d th e wa ter s, w hi ch th ey

V\

co nsid er sacred . Some old resid ent s were expelled three times from
their homes, by three d llfcrcnt cnt itics - Mincra<;: Jo Sa n!;] Pat ricia,
IBAMA and Alcoa. For most o f the o ld in hubuant s, thi s 'new slavery'
me ant m isery an d a n u na ccept a bl e life : 1\ favc las a nd {JeiTe/dries
(sh acks built al on g the river-ban k) to wh ere they mo ved a fter bc ing
d isplaced by th e large p rojec ts and p ro tected ;1 rcas.
'1' 1 is casc sllo ws a n a llia ncc of til e priva te for ces (min ing
com pa n ies an pll ic (IBAMA) is p h ysicall y a nd cu lt u ra lly
destroying a population that um il now hacl livoc: in harm o n y with / f/~
tile fo rest s an d rivers o f Amazonia . In th e view of t h cs ins titutions ,
\
th e ac tio n is leg it irna tcd by th e appea l to 'cco uo mic and ccolog rcal
mod er n ity', acco reling to w hi ch th e exp ulsio .i of th e A f ro - Il rnz ilianx
o f Tro m betas is co nside red fun da me nta l to the estab lishmen t of
'e co logic al moderni ty', cba ractcrizcd b y the need to sepa rate humans
and na ture th rou gh th e cons titutio n of p rotected natural area s, TIlis
will ensu re the 'eco no mic mod crnity' nc cd rd to obt ain hi gh p ro fits
for th e m in ing co mp an ies, acc or d ing to tile p lans of the m ilitary
regi m e for th e occ u pa tio n of th e 'vaca n t spaces' of Ama zo n ia
(Aceve do and Cas tro 1993 ).
'lh. sec ond"!ype of IQcal mov c m e~ Isolated regio ns are th ose
suppo rted by NGOs an d resear ch in st itut es. O ne exa mp le is th e
project o f th e Marni raua Ecologica l Station, in th e State of Ama zo nas,
ad m in is tered by the Marn iraua Civil Society and su pported by several
i n t c rna t i o n a l env iro nmen ta l n o n-govcr n mc n ta l organizations,
a mo ng them th e Wo rld Wi ld life Fun d (WW F) . T hc EEM (Mami ra ua
I ~ col o g ical Stati o n) co vers more th an on e m illio n hcc ta rcs, h il virlg
been created to p ro tect a large part o f til e ftoodplaln bet ween the
Ja pur;\ an d Solimoe s rivers. In th is hu ge a rea live '1,.'i On wl rxci ms,
sp read over Sf) srnal) cornm unl tics, with an ;Iveragc of l 'll lOtl SC' 1101tls
in each These co m m u n ities live from fishil1 g_ hllillil1 g ;111< 1gZl lhe rillg
fores t p rod uc ts, Alo ng wit h th ese tra dlr lo nal activitlcs, ho wever.
there is lo ggin g for sale to th e sawm ills ill tile citie s.
Co nt rary to wh a t is required by legislat ion - expu lsion of the
popul ar lon of th e area - th e pro ject ad rninistrn to rs e1ecid ed to al lo w
t hc 1'II1Xcims to rem ain in this terr itor y where th ey have a llV<l ys lived .
J)llri llg the flo od s, wa ter cove rs m illlo ns ()( Ill'l" lart-s. ll1;d, !n~: lillY
en fo rceme n t an im possib le task . The adml n r.uauvc team. he!c)I1 ging
In ;1 local no n-govc r n mcnta l nr g;1ni 7_a lio n, j),'l icvctl 111;]( onl y with
co m m u ni ty par tici pati o n co u lcl the b iotl i vcrs it y ;\I111 cultu rc of (ill'
region be pro tect ed . 'llu s type of ma nageme n t. ho wever, is difft' rl'/ll
trom til e establ ishment a nd nn posltion of '1l1;lnagellle ll \ pl:lns' 111'
scien tists and burca ucr.us . It req ui res a lon gt'r tim c for developmen t.
,i lll'(' il dep ends on con tinu ous consu lt.uion ;llll l ;1con sl;1111 di ;IIi~II(,

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72

Pri votiz ing Nature

J I l l 111 1

with local populations, inclusion of social scientists in research

teams arid more flexibility in planning. It places more value on the
proces s of decision making than on the establishment of rigid
conservation objectives. The experience of this project has
demonstrated, however, that once a decision is taken by the local
population, it ha s a much greater chance of being followed . Thi s is
demonstrated, for example, in the consensus that wa s reached by the
local population In regar ds to the conservation ari d sus t al na b le usc
of la kes, wh ich ha d ex treme biological arid socio-econom ic
importance.
In the se discu ssions, the communities decided to define six
categories of lakes , includin g totall y preserved areas, such as lake s for
reproduction of fish (untouchable, with the shoreline included in the
~"reil of rota) pre servation), 's ubsis te nce l ake s' (for exclusi ve use of the
community for subsistence fishing), 'rn a rkc t-o rtc n tcd lakes: (for
exc lus ive LIse o f th e community, with the fish to be so ld), and 'l ake s
or usc of the nearby urb an centre s' (where fishing is permitted to
.atlsfy th e needs of municipalities). The communities, in a n assem bly,
rlso d ecided on the typ es of sanctions to be applied to those
.o rn munlty members who, di sobeyed the deci sions. The
drn inistrators of EEM concluded:
With the defin ition of the limited areas for professional fishing,
it is hoped to create some kind of 'social responsibility' be tween
the fish ermen, of the urban centres and local fishermen th at leads
tJ H~ communit y m embers to defend, alm ost in uni son, the
pr eserv ation of lake s and non-predatory fishing . . . Th e consen sus
reached m eans that there is a good chance that the decisions
tak en will be ca rrie d o u t, thereb y reducing the requirem ent for
ad ditio nal effort in implementin g these decisi ons, and was jud ged
by the Ma m lrauf Proj ect Team as being very sntlsfacto ry from
the bi olog ical, geographi c and con servati oni st po int o f view.
(Ay res and Ay res 1993:10)
The third type of loc al m ov eme nts co nc erni ng t he co m m o ns is
typified by the rubber-tappers' ext ractive reserves -Tocn lly initiated
and recentl y supported by natt onal and internat ional coaliti ons.
Creat ed in the 1970s, during th e hei ght o f confl ict ov e r 1;\n(1 in
Acre, thi s m o vem ent o rgan ized the first blockade (emp atc) in which
rubb er tappers c o nfro n te d the m ach ines that wer e cutting down
the forest and thr eat enin g their way o f life . In 1975, when the first
rur al un ion was creal-eel In Ilasile ia in Acre, in o ne o f th e centres o f
high d ens ity of rubb er trees , the reactio n of the landown ers was
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vio len t, and in man y G1 SeS the hou ses o f th e rubber t;lp pe rs were
blll"f1l' d .m cl thc leaders assa ss ui atcd. TI ll' Na tin nal Co u uri l of Rubbe r
Tap p e rs, est ab lis h ed ill 1985 , res p on d ed with il st rat egy o f pursui ng
the creation of ' extractive reserv es'.
Th e extrac tive reser ves a re ad mi nis te red communall y. Allho ugh
110t alloca ted in in d ivid ua l lot s, famili es ha ve the right to explo it the
resourc es al orn ; the ir t raditl ona l cxt ract ivisr t;lppin g ro utes (the
( o /O(IICiiC'S ) wit h in till' rese rves . The land ca n n o t he so ld o r ,
tran sformed int o n on-fo rest use s, except for sm a ll area s th :lt Me
al l o we d to be cleare d fo r subsis tence ag ricul ture (no t more tl1;\l l five
hect ares per fam ily, o r a p p ro x ima te ly 1- 2 per ce n t o f th e a rea o f til l.:
reserve) . Th e creation of th ese reserves is also based o n the local
or ga niza tio n of rub ber tapp ers and o n progr amm es o f cduc.n io n,
h enl th, co ope ra t iv ism, mar ket ing ane! resea rch in to a lternauv c
sys te m s of forest rnauau cmcnt.
Th e communit y m em bers of cx tracrivist reserves arc awa re, lllrlHlgil
t licl r rcpr cscntn tlvc o rga n iza tio ns, tha t a legal guar antee ;q ~ ;1i11S1
aggr ess io n by larg e econ omi c in tcr cs ts is n ot eno ug h . Il is
fundam en tal tha t th eir extract ivist p ro du ctio n has eco no m ic viahi li ty,
sin ce th ey currently dep end pr i m ar il y on o nly a flow p rodu cts. su ch
,IS rubber, nut s o r baba ssu palm -trees. Rub be r p roductio n is prcc;Jr i ou ~
beca use of the high co st of pr oduc t ion an d an c xt e r nn l m a rkct
un favourable to prim ary p rod uct s, an d also because o r- the lo w er p rice
o f latex produced by m orio cul tu rc pl an tat io ns in the so ut h of t ile
COUll try. The rub ber-tappers so licit governl11ent sub sidi es to malntain
p rices for rubb er o n the intern al mar ket, while t h cy look for
alternat ive mar kets for products o f Al11a7.0ni ;1 on till' in tern a tio na l
ma r kct. To this end, a few co operativ es arc o rg;1 l1 i7.e li to cli mln utc th e
m iddlem cn (Sc hw a rtz ma n 198R) and f;1c ilit a[c ruar kctln u.
The Nati onal Co u n cil o f Rubber tn ppers <11 50 cr eate d a Ce n t re o f
Tr;lill i l lg ill 111 Resea rch rhar. t u gct hcr wi t h 1I[';1/ili;111 u n tvcrxlues.
loo ked for ways o f di versifying p roduc tion thr o ug h resea rch a ud th e
cst ab lis h rne n t o f sy s te m s o f man nucmcnr o f n.n u ra l f() rest ~ ,
agroforcstr y, n co -ext racti vism an d ge netic co n ser vati on (Vi a n. i <lll d
Kagr y.uua, quoted in J)i l'!:~u e s 1992a ).
Tile cx t rnc t ivc reserv es g;!in ed in tc rn. u io n.rl u ot o rict v a l!l'r til l'
nssass in a tlo o f tile ru bber-t a pp ers' leader , Ch ico tv ll'lld l'~, in I 'JKH .
Til l' l'ilS! cx rr.rct lvc r l'~l'rVl' W ;\S 11I'rit'i,\lly ("[l':\tl'li in I 'lHK . ;\11(1 \Y;\ s
ca lled th e Pro ject of Ext racti vist Sc u lc mc n t, heing p:lrl o r Ill l' N:ltillll;d
Plan Io r I\g r;1 rian Rcf o r m o f INCI{ /\ (arti er II o27/IN Clti\ ). In 1 9') ( ) ~ ih c
cx tracuv c reser ves bec a me part or til e prut ect etl ;lIl'as SyStl'11) u nder
t hc a u t h o ri ty of lI\ l\ ~\'I i\ (Covc r u ru c n t Deuce II cmWJ7) , II;lSl' tI Oil : \
m ovc m cn t to supp ort t hcir \;1 III I rigllts .u n l t lnir t r.uli t ion al IV;I )' (ll

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. life, the rubber tappers began to count on the support of

environmental groups arid national and international nongovernmental organi zations . Also, in 1986 tile Alliance of tile People
o f the Forest, which a.so included th e indigenous populations, was
created. Tile joint effort of the indigen ous leadership, the rubber
tappers, and those adversel y affected by dams, supported by
environmental organizations both within and outside Brazil, made
possible, for example, the cre ation of the Encounter of the People of
the Forest, in A l tarni ra in 1989, to protest against the construction
of hydro-electric darn s on the Xin gu Ri ver, wh ere many indigenous
reserves are located (CEDI 1989). This joint effort was responsible for
the suspension of plan s to cr eate large dams along th e Xin gu River.
The rubber-tappers ' movemen t, d espite the o rga n ized reaction o f
large landowners throu gh UDI~ (Democratic Rural Union), expa n d ed
not only into Acre, where 60 per cent o f til e municipalities had
rubber-tapper organi zat ions, but also into other states such as Arnapa,
Ronrlo nia and Ama zon as. including ten extractivist settl ements and
Iou i cxtrnctivtst reserves cov ering three million hectares arid
benefiting around 9,000 families (CIMA 1991). In 1992, lIlAMA
cre ated CNPT (Nat ional Council of Traditional Populations), for the
purpose of technical support for the reser ves in Ama zonia an d
expanding the idea [0 o th e r regions oft h e country. Currently there
are other extractivist rese rv es outsid e of thls reg ion, based on
extractivism of bubassu, a natural resource o f tile cetrado (savannah
vegetation in semi -arid area s), and on Iish lng resources in Santa
Catarina State. The establishm ent and reinforcement of extracti ve
reserves continues in tile Ama zonian region and in other areas of the
country, not only in the tropical forests, but also along tile coastline,
as is the ca se of Pirajurubae in the State of Santa Catarina arid
Man d ira in Sao Paulo.
The movement to establish extractlvlst reserves is an exam ple of
defending, reinforcing and re creatin g threat ened ways of life.
Furthermore, in Amazonia it is an alt ernative that can enable the
susta in able use of natural resources, which respects both biological
diversity and the trad.ttonal way of life of populations. As Silberling
stilted (1990), offIcia I .lI1d publ ic rccogn ilion of these rese rvcs was
only made posslble by the strong so cial m ov ement that worked
together with the Nanonal Council of Rubber Tappers, looking for
n a tiona l as well as internati onal legitimacy, especially in t he ir
struggle against other forms o f ownersh ip, in particular the large
landholdings. They manag ed, through social mobili zation, to raise
the levels of consciousness and ed uca tio n of th eir members, creatlng
and re-creating valu es o f group sohdarl ry fund ament al to the

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co n tin u ity of the creati ve process. Tile lrcqucut Illeetin gs o f t h c

lead ers o f the Nat ional Co u nc il wit h the rubbe r ta p pers i n 11 10111 y
reg io ns of Amazo ni a h elped th em to organ ize assoc iatio ns tl1 ;lt wi ll
pr opose n ew reserves. T h ei r ide ol ogical \1nL symbo lic role has bee n
bas ed o n the cr eat ion of solidarity in vol vin g th e sup po rt of other
g rou ps, socia l fo rces and pol icies wi th in an d ou tside the co u n try, a nd
o n o b ta ini n g Ii naric ia l and technical resour ces, al on g w it h
co n t rlbut i n g deci si vely to th e growth o: til e powe r o f locll
associati ons of rubber rappers, who feel link ed 10 a I:lrger m o veme nt
that tran sc en ds Am azo nia .

Conclusion

I\s th is ch ap ter illu str.ucs. communal <lJl!' ropri \1 [io n pr act ices in
llrn zi l is not an issue o r the past, but a ve ry ,:ritica l po lit ic nl str;ltegy

II. '

of th e p rese n t. The inte rest in revi vin g C' )I11 I11o'ns ius t itut io ns is
sp rcndl ng, as more communi ties ar e r e~ pol1 din g to pr cd a tor y
encl osures o f th eir territories by landlords a nd inv estors dri ven by th e
politi cal momentum o f th e expansion o f the eco no mi c fro n tier.
Co m mo ns ac tiv ism coinc ides with o the r soc ial pr oce sses ai med a t
l11aint \1ining threaten eo livelihood o f certai n lraclition al co m m u n ities.
It can be seen as il pr oc ess of soci al recon struct ion o f llvclih oo ds th aI
liiY(' h ('c'n parti \1 11 y dis organi zed by til e eX jlilnsioll 0 1 l !l c_Jll;iiJ~
n
. cl the encrOaCllm l'nt of lar rc . pr ivat e bu sinc sses into
co m l11 u nil11y mana gc( Sites, In this proc ess 1) ( social re<I ctitm , it is clear
th;,.( I'n'IJro n me n til! prnt l'ction iS $IIC S [l' l iJ !cJ ..m-:,;m t.ai llalJilily p lilY au,
i,Jllpo rlilo t roll' as some soci a~l i n g go vernlllent !lllU . llOll..:....
gov ernmcnt agcllclc.s., Sl'e tllese experil'nc l'~ a ~ 'c ase studi es' !t':ldin g
to til e Sl'a rcll...9 f 'sllstlJina\)lp c1cy cIQ~' . It is hard to torcscc til e
o u tco me of these so cia l ex pe rime n ts, as 111 (' )' contradi ct t h e cu r rc n t
n eo l l b crn l polici es of til e Ilra7.ilii1l1 state . Th e' succe ss o f th ese so clnl
ex pe ri m e n ts will cl earl y depend on th eir soc lo -cco n o m!c
susta ln a b illty arid on th e ca pacity of th e suppo rt m ovem e nt s 10
count e ract th e trem endo us st ren gth o f l' owe rfu l la t ifu n d ia alld
co ns er va tiv e social force s in nr 'lzil. T IH:' <uccc ss or the se soci:11
(' X P(' r i 111 cn t s is u lt i 111 ill ely lin k cd I() IIH' I)(l Ssi \l i ii I )' (l t' Illl'
esta b lish m ent o f a long-li vin g dem ocra cy an d t lic rC' l'ogn itio n Ih :11
Iliol ogicll l1ive rsity can o n ly he c nsu rcri t h rc un }: I Ill' C111 pOWe l llll' 11 1
0 1 th e resource-dependent commoners wh o rna i n la ln bo t h Il ll
Iliol ogicalllllli cultural di versity of Brazil.

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