Vazanteiros in Motion: The Process of Environmentalization of Their Territorial Fights in the Context of Ecological Modernization Policies

This research paper examines the 'environmentalization' of social struggles among the communities of Pau Preto, Pau de Légua, and Quilombo da Lapinha in Northern Minas Gerais, Brazil, who organized as 'Vazanteiros em Movimento'. Using Political Ecology and Critical Sociology, the study analyzes how sustainable development ideologies facilitated agribusiness expansion via compensatory parks for irrigated fruit farming projects, while simultaneously sparking a territorial reclamation movement within the environmental sphere.

• The study identifies a process of 'environmentalization' regarding the social struggles of the Pau Preto, Pau de Légua, and Quilombo da Lapinha communities in Northern Minas Gerais, which led to the formation of the 'Vazanteiros em Movimento' movement to address territorial environmental conflicts.
• Research results indicate that the ideology of sustainable development contained contradictions that allowed agribusiness to consolidate in the region, specifically through the use of compensatory parks linked to irrigated fruit farming projects.
• The research employed a methodology combining the analysis of public environmental and legal documents, ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2006 and 2012, interviews, and the 'extended-case method' (situational analysis) to track social events historically.

APA

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (2025). Vazanteiros in Motion: The Process of Environmentalization of Their Territorial Fights in the Context of Ecological Modernization Policies. https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/vazanteiros-in-motion-the-process-of-environmentalization-of-their-territorial-fights-in-the-context-of-ecological-modernization-policies/

Chicago

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. Vazanteiros in Motion: The Process of Environmentalization of Their Territorial Fights in the Context of Ecological Modernization Policies. 2025. https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/vazanteiros-in-motion-the-process-of-environmentalization-of-their-territorial-fights-in-the-context-of-ecological-modernization-policies/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |title=Vazanteiros in Motion: The Process of Environmentalization of Their Territorial Fights in the Context of Ecological Modernization Policies |date=16 January 2025 |url=https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/vazanteiros-in-motion-the-process-of-environmentalization-of-their-territorial-fights-in-the-context-of-ecological-modernization-policies/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{interamericaninstituteforglobalchangeresearch2025vazanteiros, author = {{Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}}, title = {{Vazanteiros in Motion: The Process of Environmentalization of Their Territorial Fights in the Context of Ecological Modernization Policies}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, year = {2025}, month = jan, url = {https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/vazanteiros-in-motion-the-process-of-environmentalization-of-their-territorial-fights-in-the-context-of-ecological-modernization-policies/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }