Belo Monte Power Plant and the spatial concepts underlying the concept of being affected by dams: the case of Lagoa do Independente I in Altamira-PA

Abstract

This work aims to identify the different conceptions of space that support the concept of the affected by dam's from the analysis of the case of the residents of the Lagoa occupation of the Jardim Independente I neighborhood, in the city of Altamira-Pará. The residents of the area in question organized themselves, together with the Movement of People Affected by Dams (MAB), to be recognized as affected by the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant, in a process of struggles that highlighted the limits of the spatial concept was used by electric power sector for define those affected. The work was based on secondary data and open and semi-structured interviews with former residents of the area and other actors in this process. The results indicate the existence of at least two spatial perspectives that shape the disputes around the concept of being affected. The first, coming from the electricity sector, corresponds to an “areal” concept delimited from the “enterprise polygon” (based on the flood level). It is related to the territorial-patrimonial and water vision of the affected, which prioritizes the physical aspect of space and hides social relations. The second is a “human” or “relational” spatial conception, which considers the spatial effects of these large-scale projects under the logic of totality, taking into account social relations in the production of space, including political determinations.