Injustiças (Socio)ambientais e as Usinas Hidrelétricas no Rio Iguaçu (PR): consequências do modelo energético brasileiro

Abstract

Based on an overview of brazilian hydroenergy policy and the impacts on the Iguaçu River/PR, this thesis discusses the contradictions of an energy model grounded in the expansion of hydroelectric power stations and analyzes the social implications experienced by communities affected by the Baixo Iguaçu Hydroelectric Power Station/PR, highlighting the process of (socio)environmental injustice. From a historical-critical approach, the research also shows how privatizations and concessions in the generation and commercialization of hydroelectric energy have resulted in the transfer of this patrimony, built with public resources and labor of thousands of Brazilians. The analytical scope covers the process of consolidation of the national electricity sector and extends to the present day, considering the dynamics of the sector’s productive restructuring, privatization, and financialization, as well as the intensification of territorial conflicts and environmental injustices. In this context, the Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens – MAB (Movement of People Affected by Dams) stands out as a central political actor in denouncing injustices and in building strategies of resistance and struggle for environmental justice. Focusing on the state of Paraná and the Iguaçu River, the study considers as a territory affected by the implementation of hydroelectric power stations, emphasizing the (socio)environmental impacts that have been accumulated, the concentration of richness, and the processes of territorial appropriation carried by electricity companies. The analysis concentrates on socioenvironmental implications and the dynamics in construction of the Baixo Iguaçu Hydroelectric Power Station, the last built along this river. The thesis argues that, although legitimized by legal structures and developmentalist narratives, the expansion of hydroelectric power stations reproduces environmental injustices and reinforces the marginalization of affected populations, who are often seen as obstacles to the expansion of brazilian energy model. Overcoming these injustices requires the democratization of energy policy, the recognition of territories as spaces of life, and the centrality of social struggles in the construction of alternatives oriented by environmental justice.