Superfícies e subsolos no mundo mercadoria: neoextrativismo, conflitos, r-existências e territórios livres de mineração na Zona da Mata de Minas Gerais

Abstract

Mineral neoexractivism and its consequences in the 21st century provoke us to think about the mining activity present in the state of Minas Gerais for centuries, always expanding across new frontiers, causing major complications and accumulation of problems in the current Anthropocene/Capitalocene period. In view of this, we seek, in this thesis, to carry out a study on the Zona da Mata, a mesoregion of the state of Minas Gerais, through a critical and geographical analysis surrounding the mineral issue. To this end, we discuss the conflicts arising from the territorialization of three mining companies that extract bauxite and magnetite from the ground. Mining companies operate in different phases, however, they are all permeated by conflicts and popular r-existences that have been organized for more than two decades in unique contexts. We analyze permissiveness and flexibility through environmental licensing procedures, together with public policies that encourage and authorize the advancement and operation of extractive activities in new territories. Finally, we demonstrate how the articulations in search of the creation of Mining-Free Territories are going through experiences that took place between 2015 and 2023.