Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: ARTHUR VINICIUS NASCIMENTO VIANA

Uma banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : ARTHUR VINICIUS NASCIMENTO VIANA
DATE: 27/06/2025
TIME: 16:00
LOCAL: Videoconferência (Google Meet)
TITLE:

CHURCH AND COMMUNITY IN ADDRESSING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS IN THE PERIPHERY OF RECIFE, BRAZIL

KEY WORDS:

Community-based climate governance; lived experience; evangelical church.

PAGES: 32
BIG AREA: Ciências Humanas
AREA: Sociologia
SUMMARY:

In this dissertation, we seek to understand how an urban peripheral community, located in the neighborhood of Coqueiral in Recife, Brazil, has developed ways to confront the impacts of climate change through the articulation between church, community, and the territory itself. We start from the observation that evangelical churches can play an active role in social mobilization and the defense of rights. In this sense, we analyze the actions of the Baptist Church in Coqueiral as a catalyst for a community movement that led to the creation of the Rio Limpo Cidades Saudáveis project and, later, the Fórum Popular do Rio Tejipió (FORTE). Drawing on authors such as Bruno Latour and Anna Tsing, we reflect on the construction of "polyphonic assemblies," where multiple forms of knowledge—religious, popular, technical, and environmental—intertwine in the struggle for climate justice and environmental citizenship. The practices of this community network include environmental education, advocacy, political articulation, and the creation of affective ties with the territory and with the Tejipió River, understood not only as a natural resource but as a rights-bearing subject and a part of the community. Through participant observation, document analysis, and interviews, we show how community articulation has challenged public authorities, influenced urban policies, and created local strategies for mitigating and adapting to extreme events—especially flooding—which are part of a specific community experience. We recognize that, in the absence of effective state action, forms of community-based climate governance emerge that expand the understanding of citizenship, environmental rights, and spirituality. By historicizing the church's role and its theological transformation, we reveal how this religious collective has come to engage critically and constructively with the environmental crisis. We conclude that the Coqueiral experience offers a concrete and innovative response to the multiple layers of the climate crisis, based on the collectivization of life, the strengthening of community bonds, and the pursuit of buen vivir. We believe this research contributes to the field of social sciences by proposing a broadened perspective on the role of religion, grassroots networks, and local knowledge in building a political ecology committed to social and environmental justice.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Presidente - 1149562 - ORIVALDO PIMENTEL LOPES JUNIOR
Interno - ***.963.294-** - ANAXSUELL FERNANDO DA SILVA - UNILA
Externo à Instituição - JULIANO SPYER