Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: ARYAN CARLOS DE OLIVEIRA SILVA

Uma banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO de DOUTORADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : ARYAN CARLOS DE OLIVEIRA SILVA
DATE: 01/04/2026
TIME: 14:00
LOCAL: Ambiente Virtual
TITLE:

HYDROPOLITICS OF THE SÃO FRANCISCO RIVER: TERRITORIAL USES AND WATER CONFLICTS IN NORTHEASTERN BRAZIL

KEY WORDS:

Water conflicts; Hydropolitics; São Francisco River Integration Project (PISF).

PAGES: 133
BIG AREA: Ciências Humanas
AREA: Geografia
SUBÁREA: Geografia Humana
SPECIALTY: Geografia Política
SUMMARY:

Water constitutes a strategic resource, indispensable to human life and productive activities, and is often the object of conflicts and power relations. Beyond the geographical location of water resources, the issue of water monopolization by specific groups—such as large landowners, agribusiness, and industry—assumes central importance. These groups impose their interests upon the broader collectivity by virtue of their greater bargaining power. Thus, water uses are invariably surrounded by conflicts and cooperation, as different users seek to expand their control over water sources in order to guarantee the fulfillment of their demands. This thesis takes as its object of study the hydropolitical relations between donor and recipient states of the waters of the São Francisco River Integration Project (PISF). By introducing new artificial structures connected to the natural drainage network, the PISF promotes a territorial reconfiguration that intensifies hydropolitical relations—marked by cooperation and conflict—among different actors in both the donor and recipient regions. In light of this issue, the following questions arise: does the materialization of the PISF deepen conflictual relations among social groups and institutional actors in both the donor and recipient regions? How do different actors gain access to water in the areas affected by the PISF in the northern Northeast? In what ways does the insertion of new water infrastructure transform the territorial configuration of the study area? What governance model is adopted by regulatory agencies in the management of the PISF’s water resources? The hypothesis advanced here is that the actions and policies implemented to mitigate water conflicts in the semi-arid region are ineffective because they fail to consider water resources as an interconnected system involving both natural and social aspects. In this context, the power dynamics between the State and different actors are constructed asymmetrically, and the water issue in the semi-arid region is also the result of a political game in which specific groups—productive or economic—exercise greater bargaining power in relation to other groups and even the State itself. Changes in the water system therefore reflect a hydropolitical game that gains relevance as cooperation, conflicts, and forms of territorial use within the area of influence of the PISF reveal interests, power relations, productive transformations, and territorial reconfigurations. The general objective of this thesis is to analyze hydropolitical relations and the role of different actors regarding the uses of territory in the integration of the São Francisco River in the semi-arid region of the northern Northeast. The specific objectives are: (a) to identify how hydropolitical relations have been constructed in the PISF, both in donor and recipient areas; (b) to characterize how different actors access and use water resources; (c) to identify the role of public water policies in the study area and their contribution to regional development; (d) to analyze the role of state and non-state actors in the hydropolitics of the PISF; and (e) to classify water conflicts and their actors in the study area. The power dynamics in hydropolitical relations surrounding the PISF acquire singular contours through the insertion of a hydrotechnical system in the semi-arid territory, which in turn transforms the territorial configuration of the region by connecting artificial objects to the natural hydrological drainage network. In this way, conflicts, cooperation, and power relations surrounding water resources between the donor and recipient regions reveal a hydropolitical context distinguished by the actions of different actors seeking to expand their control over water.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Presidente - 1291544 - EDU SILVESTRE DE ALBUQUERQUE
Interna - 6350736 - EUGENIA MARIA DANTAS
Interno - 3060741 - HUGO ARRUDA DE MORAIS
Externo à Instituição - BRUNO GOMES DE ARAUJO - UEA
Externo à Instituição - ISONEL SANDINO MENEGUZZO - UEPG