Research

This project on “Climate Denial in Brazil” is coordinated by Carlos R. S. Milani and counts upon the participation of Dr. Ruth Mckie (De Montfort University, UK) and assistant researcher Janaina Pinto. As part of the network entitled “The Climate Social Science Network”, Brown University (USA), this project aims to map relevant networks, organizations and leaders in the broad political field of climate denial in Brazil, answering questions such as: what are the main networks? How are they organized? What are their transnational connections? Are there any relationships between religion and climate denial in Brazil? What would be the profile of the scientists who participate in these networks and organizations? The first phase of the study is structured around interviews with agents from the Brazilian environmental field. The second phase, still in preparation, will be oriented towards a direct study with leaders and organizations in the field of climate denial in Brazil.

The content analysis method is an investigative and descriptive approach to the content of any sort of written, visual or oral discourse. It does not neglect social, political and economic influences, as well as the historical and geographical context in which the statement (oral or written speech) is situated. In the Content Analysis of Official Speeches on Foreign Policy project run by LABMUNDO, content analysis is applied to convert textual materials into quantitative data and analyse them in a qualitative way for the purpose of logical deductions in hypothesis testing, but also for raising new research questions. This analytical, quantitative and qualitative methodology seeks to enable the researcher to produce empirically explanatory, interpretive or descriptive materials that are analytically dense. In addition, it allows for the identification of frequencies, occurrences and co-occurrences of topics or categories. The main objective of this project is to use the content analysis methodology to analyse the environmental agenda in general and the climate change agenda in Brazilian foreign policy in particular. Comparative exercises (with regional powers in the South) will also be developed. Based on content analysis, this project will identify narratives that address issues related to the environment and climate change; build categories and associated topics, such as sustainable development, environmental protection or CO2 reduction; analyse qualitatively the categories to verify how they relate to specific ideas and objectives of different governments and administrations.

Analysing the European green agenda is based on increasing relevance of the theme in Europe in two main aspects. The first one refers to the implementation of the European Commission\’s “Green Agreement”, launched in December 2019, and the second refers to the increase in electoral support for green parties, identified in elections in Europe that same year. The “Green European Agreement” aims to create, within the framework of the Union\’s regional policies, a series of initiatives and legislative packages that promote the transformation of Europe into the first continent with a neutral climate impact by 2050. At the same time, we have seen civil society support to this agenda by increasing votes for green parties, both in national elections and in the election to the European Parliament. Would the green agenda be a sustainable alternative to ideological extremism and a reflection of changes in focus on environmental impacts related to the economy and immigration? This project will develop research activities, course proposals and lectures.

My interest in the topic of climate change unfolds from social theory and, in particular, this moment, from political sociology, in addition to being, in itself, an issue of paramount importance for the contemporary world. To the extent that modernity, at the heart of its imaginary and in its institutions, as well as practices, defined “nature” as external to “society”, the former only appears as a possible object of political intervention. How to deal with this problem theoretically and practically, in face of the enormous challenges related to the trajectory of global warming, among other problems generated by climate change, is, therefore, what especially concerns me.

The general objective of this project is to understand the consequences of Chinese investments in the Brazilian Amazon for climate change and local populations, with an emphasis on three key economic sectors: agribusiness, energy and mining. This concern fits in a context of increasing internationalization of companies from China since the 2000s to other countries in the Global South, motivated essentially by the search for raw materials and food. The Amazon is a priority location for this type of study because economic expansion in the region has often been highlighted internationally for its negative impacts on global warming and the well-being of local populations. Examples of such processes include deforestation for cattle breeding or soy plantations, socio-environmental conflicts over the construction of the Belo Monte plant, on the Xingu river and tensions over the expansion of mining.

The research entitled “Complex Realities and Environmental Knowledge: methodological alternatives in environment and society” develops empirical studies and theoretical reflections seeking to understand the processes of social construction of the environment related to the following themes: political ecology; socio-environmental conflicts and vulnerabilities; local development; public policy; environmental education and ethics; tourism and procedural methodologies, aiming to affirm the transformative and critical potential of environmental knowledge that propels the social actor to unveil reality, collective political action and individual autonomy.