Autonomia e desenvolvimento: um estudo sobre a ideia de "desenvolvimento" dos Munduruku Planalto (Santarém-PA) em contraposição ao avanço do agronegócio

Abstract

The Munduruku Planalto Indigenous Land (TI) is located 42 km from the urban area of the municipality of Santarém – Pará, in the region known as “planalto santareno”. There, the process of expansion/invasion of agribusiness with the monoculture of grains (corn and soy), has caused several geoepistemic conflicts. This work focuses on understanding the process of self-demarcation of the Munduruku Planalto TI and bringing the debate about what “development” is to the residents of the Açaizal village (the TI village closest to the Curuá-Una highway, the main access to the territory), and the contradiction of the agribusiness developmental discourse in Santarém. The research follows a qualitative approach, carrying out two fieldworks: the first in December 2019 in the villages of Ipaupixuna and Açaizal; the second in February 2020 in Açaizal village. The data were obtained through photographic records and the application of open and semi-structured interviews with the chiefs and leaders of the mentioned villages. For the research dialogue, we used authors from Geography and other areas of knowledge, such as: Castoriadis (1982), Haesbaert (2007), Cruz (2017); Suertegaray (2006); Souza (2006); and Zilio (2021). With the expansion/invasion of agribusiness in the municipality of Santarém, the native/traditional peoples are vulnerable given the invisibility and neglect of the State. The research reveals the self-demarcation of TI Munduruku Planalto as a manifestation of r-existence and gains in autonomy, the influence of indigenous organizations to fight in the political sphere and, mainly, the understanding that development is also living within the territory. Studies like this reveal the worrying dismantling of rights and the disrespect for the lives of the traditional/original peoples of the Amazon; the r-existences of these peoples, on the other hand, allow us to see through the geographical gaze the different worldviews that vie for the same space.