Technopolitics and water disputes in the expansion of rice agribusiness in Marajó

Abstract

This article analyzes how technological practices linked to agribusiness, with an emphasis on irrigated rice cultivation, generate tensions related to water access in the campo region of the Marajó Archipelago (Pará). Based on an interdisciplinary approach grounded in Science, Technology, and Society (STS) with qualitative research involving quilombola communities, the study highlights the complexity of the socio-environmental dynamics in dispute. Rice cultivation is embedded in a hegemonic system of water appropriation marked by a technopolitics that predominantly views water as a productive input. However, this logic manifests through hybrid processes and asymmetries where economic interests,  knowledge, and practices coexist, interact, and negotiate the meanings and uses of water.. Reports from quilombola residents and leaders about contamination, irregular pesticide spraying, and restrictions on water use reveal the concrete impacts of these asymmetries. At the same time, communities express situated forms of resistance and knowledge production through mobilizations and partnerships with social organizations.