O meio natural na Amazônia paraense: paisagem, configuração espacial e dinâmica social

Abstract

This research is part of the project developed by the research group Territorial Dynamics of Rural Space in the Amazon - GDEA, in which Nahum (2018) proposes the use of geographic concepts that make it possible to analyze the Amazon region of Pará geographically and specifically its formation process. According to Nahum (2019), the Amazon went through a succession and coexistence of geographical environments, the natural environment being characterized by rural workers relations linked to extractivism; followed by a technical environment marked by an agrarian period linked to agricultural activities; and a technical scientific-informational environment, which is rural, with agro-industrial activities, making up the current panorama. The idea is defended that the natural environment to which the Amazon passed comprises the period from 1616 to 1966. The year 1616 marks the foundation of the city of Belém, and thus the beginning of the formation of the future General Company of Pará and Maranhão, defined as the starting point, and 1966 dates the beginning of “Operation Amazônia”, a set of investments aimed at the development of the region, as the point of arrival. Taking this into account, we support the thesis of the existence of a natural environment in the Amazon region of Pará, seeking to build a periodization of said area, to show the spatial movement that structured its formation. For this research, the landscape, spatial configuration, and social dynamics in these three and a half centuries will be characterized, and thus singularize the natural environment in the Amazon region of Pará. Thinking about such a concept requires us to understand that the existence of the geographic environments characterized by Santos and Silveira (2001) are spatial readings that have the technique as reference. This research aims to go beyond historical, economic, and sociological contributions, to raise evidence from a periodization as to how the landscape, spatial configuration and social dynamics of each period enabled the Amazon to reach its current stage. Considering the analytical methodology of the research, it is understood that space is the fundamental category to understand the idea of period, event, and periodization in Santos (2008). As an operational methodology, a bibliographical review was carried out on the Amazon region of Pará from 1616 to 1966, in order to build the necessary database to understand the landscape, spatial configuration and social dynamics of the study area. Incorporating Geography into the methodological process becomes a challenge that is sought to be overcome, however, here is an attempt.