As relações de poder no Aterro Sanitário Metropolitano Oeste de Caucaia, Estado do Ceará, Brasil

Abstract

The issue highlighted in this article concerns the power relations that determine the access and use of natural resources and, consequently, the socio-environmental conflicts between social actors in the surroundings of the Metropolitan Sanitary Landfill West of Caucaia (ASMOC) and the Usina de Caucaia Biogás GNR Fortaleza Valorização de Biogás Ltda, both located in the Municipality of Caucaia in the State of Ceará, Northeast Brazil, from the perspective of Political Ecology. Among the social actors investigated in the research, the following stand out the population of the surrounding community, employees and managers of the GNR plant and the landfill. It is worth noting that Political Ecology was used as a key to the epistemological reading of socio-environmental conflicts and understanding of the power relations established along this network of diverse interests. Thus, the main objective of the research is to investigate the power relations in determining access, use of natural resources and socio-environmental conflicts in the study area. This work also discusses the strategies of the biopower triad listed by Foucault, psychopower emphasized by Byung-Chul Han, and ecopower highlighted by Enrique Leff and Juan Manuel Naredo, in an attempt to highlight the social and ecological damage of the biosphere and how strategies intervene through these power relations in determining the use of natural resources and their externalities. This is a research based on literature review and document analysis, use of the "snowball" technique, fieldwork and 10 interviews in loco and application of 14 questionnaires with the social actors investigated. The results indicated that it is necessary to monitor the problems and results of human actions so that the changes and transformations that must be adopted towards environmental education for present and future generations can be perceived. Therefore, it is concluded that there is maintenance of power and its structures over the most vulnerable around the projects under discussion.