Expressions of dependency

Green crimes and the phantasmagoria of 'development' in the extreme west of Bahia, Brazil

Authors

  • Isabela Braichi Pôssas Universidade Estadual Paulista
  • José Gilberto Souza São Paulo State University

Keywords:

dependency theory, common use goods, territorial determinations, spoliation, commodities

Abstract

The article establishes a critical analysis of development and dependency and the forms of appropriation
of common goods and extraordinary profit as centralities of the monopolistic capital’s activities
in the Brazilian countryside. From a reflection on the elements of dependency, the article identifies the main territorial determinations which arise from the productive internationalisation that is internalised in peripheral economies. The empirical basis of analysis is the extreme west of Bahia, the most intensive area of water extraction for soybean production in the Matopiba region. It is evident that the main territorial determinations of dependency in the context of appropriation of common goods are established based on the expansion of the productive matrix, landscape homogenisation, land speculation, water grabbing, violence and conflicts in the field, which, on the one hand, check the concept of development and, on the other hand, make the character of the dependency explicit.

Author Biographies

Isabela Braichi Pôssas, Universidade Estadual Paulista

Isabela Braichi Pôssas, is a PhD student in Geography at the Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio Mesquita Filho - Rio Claro. Master in Geography at the Universidade Federal de Goiás. Graduated in Geography from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais. She works in the line of research of Socio-environmental Analysis and Treatment of Spatial Information, with research related to the impacts of the agricultural frontier on water resources and on land use and cover.

José Gilberto Souza, São Paulo State University

José Gilberto Souza, holds a Graduate (BA 1990/1991) and Masters in Geography (1994) from the Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia - Universidade Estadual Paulista - FCT - UNESP - Campus Presidente Prudente. He was Professor of Geography (Graduate -1992-1994 - and Postgraduate 2001-2012). PhD in Human Geography (1999) Faculdade de Filosofia Letras e Ciências Humanas - Universidade de São Paulo (FFLCH-USP). Associate Professor (2008) Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias FCAV-UNESP. Campus of Jaboticabal, where he was Professor of the Department of Rural Economy from 1995 to 2009 and the Postgraduate Program in Animal Science (2002-2010). He is currently Adjunct Professor in the Department of Geography and the Postgraduate Program in Geography - Instituto de Geociências e Ciências Exatas (IGCE) - Unesp - Campus Rio Claro. Works in Human Geography with an emphasis in Agricultural Geography, Political Geography (Public Policy) and Research Methodology. Co-author of Geography and Cartographic Skills: cartography renewal movement in the Brazilian Geography Ed UNESP / FAPESP, 2001 and Land Reform and Agricultural Credit. Ed.Unesp (Academic Culture), 2009.

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Published

2022-07-08 — Updated on 2022-07-12

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