Dádiva e relações de poder na gestão dos royalties de mineração em Juruti Velho, Juruti - PA

Abstract

The mobilization of 47 communities in Juruti - PA resulted in the foundation of the Association of Reunited Communities of Juruti Velho (Acorjuve) and in the creation of the Juruti Velho Agroextractive Settlement Project, enabling communities to obtain the collective title to the land. Acorjuve's organization was also essential in the process of resisting the installation of mining company Alcoa in its territory and in the struggle to receive and manage royalties from bauxite mining since 2010. This thesis analyzes how these resources, received by the mentioned entity they were absorbed in the traditional system of gifts that move the circuit of exchanges of material and immaterial goods among the residents of the region. In addition, it identifies and analyzes conflicts and political articulation processes motivated by the insertion of money in the communities and by the dissensions around the royalty management model. In view of the pressure exerted by different institutions to adopt an “ideal model” for the management of these resources, the entity has been fighting for the maintenance of its “native model” for the use and distribution of money and goods among its representatives, based on exchange relations linked to local networks and averse to bureaucratic and formal-legal logics. It is proposed, based on ethnographic research and participant observation, a reflection based on the gift theory to understand this “native model” and the relationships that support it. The research showed how members express dilemmas about the use and management of financial resources, which proved to be a catalyst for changes in interpersonal relationships in different fields of power, highlighting Acorjuve's own movement to guarantee (or) reinforce the legitimacy of their political self-representation. It is concluded that the way the money from royalties is used and distributed - the “native model” - cannot be seen as a way of weakening the bonds that support social relations, the sense of collectivity and participation; in fact, this model is a strong expression of the movement of the most fundamental social institutions there, operating to strengthen a certain cultural logic and to resist the logic of capital, which is increasingly inserted in communities.