From developmentalism to environmentalism: climate and environmental scientists and the Amazon during Brazil's military regime (1964-1985)

• In Event: Uneasy Partners: Evaluating the Relationships between Science, Environments, and the State

Abstract

This presentation explores the complex relationships between the Brazilian state and climate and environmental scientists in Amazonia during the military regime (1964-1985) until the process of redemocratization (1978-1985). After the 1960s, Brazil's federal government chose Amazonia as its focus point for addressing regional inequalities, opening it up to the global capitalist marketplace through development programs that promoted cattle ranching, forestry, mining, the settlement of migrants, and infrastructure. These state-sponsored development plans called for experts to understand environmental cycles, hydrology, climate, nutrients and soils of Amazonia. Despite being heavily funded by state institutions, their cordial relationship with various levels of government, and close relation to these projects, the scientists involved became important critics of deforestation and eventually of the development programs more broadly. As the global environmental movements of the 1970s took root, Brazilian environmental and climate scientists circulated in transnational networks, engaging with peers, activists, and the media. In turn, they became important agents of environmentalism in Brazil, reinforced by their Amazonian findings. The political opening after 1978 offered them a space to voice their criticism while navigating the political and scientific landscape and avoiding direct persecution or being sidelined by the repressive regime.

Author

• André Secchieri Bailão, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Brazil