Expropriation and accumulation by dispossession in the Amazon

The case of the Castanhais Polygon

Abstract

Investigates the process of dispossession and accumulation by dispossession in the Amazon, using the Castanhais Polygon in the Carajás region as a case study. Since the late 19th century, land has been transformed into a commodity through legal instruments—such as long-term lease agreements, rentals, and expropriations—legitimizing property transfer to private entities. Initially, Brazil nut extraction and other traditional land-use practices were carried out by indigenous populations and extractivist communities. With agrarian modernization and state intervention, especially from the Old Republic onward, a latifundist system was consolidated, first favouring the local elite and later large corporations. During the military period, the redefinition of land policies and the federalization of land intensified the privatization process, promoting deforestation and the conversion of forests into pastures, boosting cattle ranching expansion. In the re-democratization phase, agrarian reform measures and the redemption of long-term lease agreements highlighted the contradictions between public and private interests, generating social conflicts and perpetuating accumulation by dispossession. Thus, the study underscores the interconnectedness between legal transformations, socio-environmental impacts, and the spatial reorganization of the Amazon biome, emphasizing the importance of understanding how land, once a source of intrinsic use and value, was integrated into the global market.