Spillover de percepções entre o presente das eólicas onshore e o futuro das offshore: vozes lançadas ao vento

Abstract

The ongoing energy transition in Brazil has intensified debates about energy justice and social legitimacy, particularly in the Northeastern territories, where onshore wind farms and future offshore projects are reshaping relations among companies, the state, and local communities. This dissertation investigates how mechanisms of perception spillover shape expectations, resistance, and engagement dispositions in energy transition contexts. The research adopts energy justice as its analytical lens and examines the role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a moderator of these perceptual spillovers, influencing how communities reinterpret corporate promises, practices, and discourses. The study follows a qualitative-inductive approach, grounded in the Gioia methodology of qualitative analysis and in reflexive thematic analysis, combining in-depth interviews, focus groups, and documentary analysis of sectoral policies (such as the ABEEólica Good Practices Guide, 2024, and the Plano Nordeste Potência, 2022). The empirical contexts Trairi (CE) and Galinhos (RN) were selected because they encapsulate social memories of conflict and future expectations regarding wind power expansion. Three analytical axes were identified to guide data analysis and discussion: (1) Spillover of negative perceptions; (2) The moderating role of corporate social responsibility; and (3) Spillover of positive perceptions. The analysis produced a conceptual model of perception spillover, articulating cognitive, relational, and ethical-political dimensions. The findings reveal that negative perception spillovers emerge from prior experiences of procedural injustice, unfulfilled promises, and the devaluation of local knowledge. In such cases, communities construct “memories of incoherence” that foster distrust and resistance toward new projects. CSR, when conducted instrumentally and without dialogue, reinforces these negative spillovers, acting as a reputational filter that formalizes the distance between company and territory. Conversely, when practiced in a participatory manner that acknowledges the cognitive and symbolic value of territorial knowledge, CSR can operate as an epistemological bridge, fostering positive perception spillovers based on trust, coherence, and collective learning. It is concluded that perception spillover functions both as an indicator of relational quality and as a cognitive mechanism of perceived justice or injustice. Thus, the legitimacy of the energy transition depends less on environmental metrics and more on the ability of companies to turn CSR into a relational practice grounded in dialogue, co-responsibility, and epistemological recognition. The main theoretical contribution of this dissertation is to position CSR as a sociocognitive moderator of perception spillover, redefining it as an ethical system of intertemporal learning rather than merely a reputational management tool. By integrating the fields of energy justice, corporate responsibility, and perceptual spillovers, the study proposes a model that explains how social memories and moral expectations shape corporate legitimacy in Brazil’s energy transition, outlining pathways for policies and practices that align sustainability, equity, and social trust.