Banca de DEFESA: PEDRO CATANZARO DA ROCHA LEÃO

Uma banca de DEFESA de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : PEDRO CATANZARO DA ROCHA LEÃO
DATE: 15/05/2025
TIME: 14:00
LOCAL: CPDA - Rio de Janeiro
TITLE:

MINING IN THE CONTEXT OF ENERGY TRANSITION: reflections from the Brazilian Northeast

KEY WORDS:

Neoextractivism; Energy Transition; Northeast; Critical and/or Strategic Minerals; Mining Processes.

PAGES: 264
BIG AREA: Ciências Humanas
AREA: Sociologia
SUBÁREA: Sociologia Rural
SUMMARY:

Faced with the intensification of neo-extractivism in Brazil and the growing centrality of so-called critical and/or strategic minerals in the context of the energy transition, the Brazilian Northeast appears to be the frontier of mining expansion, with implications in terms of territorial and socio-economic dynamics. The aim of this research was to understand the process of mining expansion in the Brazilian Northeast and to assess its possible relationship with the increase in international demand for critical minerals to enable energy transition projects, which are increasingly recurrent in a context of climate crisis. Specifically, we sought to: (1) Identify and characterize the vectors of mining expansion in the Northeast, i.e. where the mineral extraction processes take place; the social actors involved; and the main types of minerals (2) to characterize the current debate on the energy transition and mining at a national level, with special attention to the role of the Northeast in this dynamic; and (3) to analyze the pressure of mining expansion on indigenous territories, quilombolas, conservation units and agrarian reform settlements in the Northeast. Based on the theoretical references of Latin American political ecology and Marxist theory, the research adopted a quantitative and qualitative approach, combining a bibliographical review of the analytical categories of neo-extractivism and energy transition; analysis of primary and secondary data; as well as fieldwork with interviews. The results indicate that, over the course of the first quarter of the century, the Northeast went from regionally based mining to globalized, export-oriented mining anchored in neo-extractivism.  Although the vector of mining expansion remains associated with the classic industry of minerals for civil construction and industrial uses, critical and/or strategic minerals have gained an important dimension in the last two decades. The analysis of mining areas and titles shows that, in the scenario of the expansion of the mineral frontier, critical and strategic minerals represent the majority of future threats to the region's territories. Thus, the expansion of mining, intensified by the demand for critical minerals linked to the energy transition, deepens pressure on indigenous territories, quilombolas, conservation units and agrarian reform settlements in Brazil's Northeast. 

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Presidente - 1425152 - FABRINA PONTES FURTADO
Externa à Instituição - CAMILA DUTRA DOS SANTOS - UECE
Externo à Instituição - LUCAS ZENHA ANTONINO - UFRB
Externo à Instituição - LUIZ JARDIM DE MORAES WANDERLEY - UERJ