Abstract

OLIVEIRA, João Pacheco de. The Construction of Belo Monte’s Hydroelectric and the Actions of Anthropologists. Iztapalapa. Rev. cienc. soc. humanid. [online]. 2018, vol.39, n.85, pp.81-102. ISSN 2007-9176.  https://doi.org/10.28928/revistaiztapalapa/852018/atc4/pachecodeoliveiraj.

The aim of this article is to describe the discussion on the construction of the hydroelectric plant of Belo Monte, Brazil. Instead of seeking a supposedly objective and external point of view, which could intend to describe in a neutral manner the reasons for this undertaking and the reactions aroused, the text presents the dynamics of the project from the perspective of one of the authors involved, that is at the same time one of his main critics: the comunity of Brazilian anthropologists, represented by the Associação Brasileira de Antropologia (ABA). Constituting, then, an example of a located ethnography, describes in detail the forms of intervention of anthropologists as organized political actors facing a macro project of development and production of energy. In the last part, it identifies the reuse of a model of development, developed during the military dictatorship, pointing it’s limits and factors of instability.

Keywords : Mega projects of development; neoextractivism; prior and informed consultation; situated ethnography.