Nova Algodões: entre o vivido e o projetado: articulação política dos atingidos pelo rompimento da barragem Algodões I, em Cocal, no Piauí

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the political articulation of those affected by the rupture of the Algodões I dam in Cocal, in Piauí, also to the senses built around the construction process of a new dam in the region, considering the existing tensions in the territory and the new configurations in course. The conflict, considered in the perspective of socio-environmental conflicts, constitutes a central question of analysis. The conflict, considered in the perspective of socioenvironmental conflicts, constitutes a central question of analysis. I take as a basis the methodological perspective of Political Ecology, according to Little (2006), so it is possible the use of ethnography in this field of research. It is the ethnography of a process, which results from the dialogical relationship between researcher and researched. I sought, therefore, to apprehend through the speeches of those affected, possible uses and meanings attributed to the enterprises of the new dam; to analyze comparatively the narratives of those affected, with the narratives of the managers involved in the work; identify in the process the degree of participation of affected families in the discussion about the new enterprise; and verify the political relationship established among those affected, with representative institutions, in the search for recognition of rights. The rupture of the Algodões I dam, an event widely publicized by the Piauí press as "Tragédia de Algodões", occurred on May 27, 2009, causing the death of ten people, material and immaterial losses, as well as the displacement of several families among the municipalities of Cocal and Buriti do Lopes, both in Piauí. The disruption in 2009 implied the destructuring of local way of life, however, this process of deterritorialization also provoked the establishment of an organized collectivity that is observed in the participation and political engagement of the affected families. Around the Association of Victims and Friends of the Victims of the Algodões Dam – AVABA, those affected are united by common interests, especially in the search for indemnities against the state of Piauí, and in the directions related to the construction of the "Nova Algodões". In this context, the political articulation of the "victims" through networks of solidarity and cooperation, in the search for the recognition of rights, is observed. Today, the prospects surrounding the construction of "Nova Algodões" have intensified the transformations in "Territorio Algodões I". In the face of uncertainties, those who are affected construct images, in which they visualize the future, based on dreams and projects. It is the construction of the "territories of symbolic projections", an operational concept and an important instrument for understanding the territorial dynamics in the region. They are mental drawings constructed in the context of the constant transformations and the future territorial incognito. Territoriesdesigned for the future, but that have their bases in the lived experience. The understanding of this concept is based on Oliveira's notion of "voyage of return" (2016), and the question about the symbolism of waters, present in the notion of dreams and reveries of Bachelard (1997). Thus, it is from the construction of these territories of symbolic projections that those affected feed the mood and (re) build their lives.