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Social environmental injustices against indigenous peoples: the Belo Monte dam

Heidi Michalski Ribeiro (Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, Brazil)
Jose Rubens Morato (Department of Law, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, Brazil)

Disaster Prevention and Management

ISSN: 0965-3562

Article publication date: 27 July 2020

Issue publication date: 30 November 2020

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Abstract

Purpose

This proposal is a case study of the Belo Monte dam. The article deals with human rights and environmental violations arising from the construction of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Power Plant in the northern region of Brazil. This paper aims to evidence human rights violations brought by the construction Belo Monte dam, a glimpse of the COVID-19 scenario and how Brazilian regulation allowed those violations.

Design/methodology/approach

To achieve the objective of this article, the Brazilian norms, public policies and the current situation of the affected communities were analyzed, focusing on the human rights violations and the historical timeline of this mega-project. The analysis was directed to the hardcore social sciences, considering analytical and qualitative research.

Findings

The data gathered and the references consulted proved that many human rights violations occurred and that the vulnerability of indigenous and local people increased with the construction of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Power Plant in the northern region of Brazil. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this adverse scenario since indigenous and local people already had their vulnerabilities increased with the construction of Belo Monte.

Research limitations/implications

The Belo Monte Dam has had severe and irreversible impacts on the lives of local communities, especially indigenous peoples, as it had destroyed their culture and the environment. The authors were not able to do fieldwork, due to the great distance of the dam. In this sense, the research does not cover all the social–environmental issues, as an ethnographic approach is necessary.

Originality/value

The authors intend to bring attention to harms caused to indigenous people and the local communities, expecting to create an alert of what this kind of project can do to vulnerable peoples' life, especially now with the pandemic scenario, which makes indigenous and traditional communities more vulnerable to diseases due to the loss of their territories.

Keywords

Citation

Ribeiro, H.M. and Morato, J.R. (2020), "Social environmental injustices against indigenous peoples: the Belo Monte dam", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 29 No. 6, pp. 865-876. https://doi.org/10.1108/DPM-02-2020-0033

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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