The trajectory of Amazonia forest extractivists social movement: Shifting political struggles, strategies, demands and achievements

La trayectoria del movimiento social de extractivistas forestales en la Amazonia: cambios en las luchas políticas, estrategias, demandas y logros

Abstract

A remarkable characteristic of the social movements that arose in Latin America in the 1980s is the central role that identity played in their mobilization and demands. The relationships established with the government led to changes in their repertoire. We analyze how those changes have affected the dynamics related to scale shift and how it affects the perception of achievements, strategies, and demands by the forest extractivists movement in the Brazilian Amazon. We use archives of local and national organizations, and interviews with leaders of the social movement. The movement has been changing its strategies and demands. However, this does not mean that it is becoming less effective in pursuing its demands through the realm of politics. The development of specific approaches as a strategy led to a friction about the definition of goals between lower and higher-level leaders. The movement remains remarkable in the region to this day.

Keywords:
Amazon; Forest Extractivists; Extractive Reserve; Public Policy; Chico Mendes

Resumen

Una característica destacada de los movimientos sociales que surgieron en América Latina en la década de 1980 es el papel central que la identidad desempeñó en sus movilizaciones y reivindicaciones. Las relaciones establecidas con el gobierno produjeron cambios en su repertorio. Analizamos cómo estos cambios afectan la dinámica del cambio de escala y cómo esta afecta la percepción de logros, estrategias y demandas por parte del movimiento de las poblaciones extractivistas de la Amazonia brasileña. Utilizamos archivos de organizaciones y entrevistas con representantes de movimientos sociales. El movimiento ha ido cambiando sus estrategias y demandas. Sin embargo, esto no significa que su eficacia para reivindicar sus demandas en el ámbito de la política se haya reduczido. El desarrollo de enfoques específicos como estrategia ha generado roces en la definición de metas entre líderes de nivel inferior y superior. El movimiento es notable la región hasta el día de hoy.

Palabras-clave:
Amazonia; Extractivistas Forestales; Reserva Extractivista; Política pública; Chico Mendes

Resumo

Uma característica marcante dos movimentos sociais surgidos na América Latina na década de 1980 é o papel central que a identidade desempenhou em suas mobilizações e reivindicações. Além disso, as relações estabelecidas com o governo levaram a mudanças em seu repertório. Nesse sentido, analisamos como as mudanças tem afetado a dinâmica relacionada à mudança de escala e como ela afeta a percepção de conquistas, estratégias e demandas pelo movimento dos extrativistas florestais da Amazônia brasileira. Utilizamos arquivos de organizações locais e nacionais e entrevistas com lideranças do movimento social. Observamos que o movimento vem mudando suas estratégias e demandas. No entanto, isso não significa que está se tornando menos eficaz em reivindicar suas demandas através do âmbito da política. O desenvolvimento de abordagens específicas como estratégia levou a um atrito sobre a definição de metas entre os líderes de nível inferior e superior. O movimento continua marcante na região até os dias de hoje.

Palavras-chave:
Amazônia; Extrativistas Florestais; Reserva Extrativista; Política Pública; Chico Mendes

Introduction

In the 1980s, many countries in Latin America faced a strong uprising of social movements after the breakdown of military rule (ECKSTEIN, 2001). A remarkable characteristic of these social movements is the central role that identity has in their formation and demands (ESCOBAR; ALVAREZ, 1992). Following the political opening, some of their demands were incorporated by the state and led to the recognition of some of their claims and the incorporation of rights in the new constitutions.

The outcomes of the recognition of their rights, and the relationship established with the state, vary across a broad spectrum. Some movements disappeared, other changed their goals and demands, and others were informally incorporated in the structure of the government (PALEY, 2001). Another factor that contributed to the interdependence between government and social movements was the lack of resources by many of the social movements for their self-maintenance (FOWERAKER, 1995). On the other hand, support with resources seems to be an important tool of the state to stifle many of the demands of social movements (PALEY, 2001).

During military rule in Brazil (1964 - 1985), the policies designed by the government to the Amazon were based on construction of large infrastructure such as roads and dams, creation of colonization projects and tax incentives for large agricultural enterprises (SCHMINK; WOOD, 1992; BECKER, 2001). The main consequences were deforestation and displacement of indigenous people and extractivist communities.

In this context, rubber tappers affected by these policies organized an unprecedented movement with the main goal of fighting for a policy of land reform that recognized their forms of land use, and their traditional knowledge about forest resources (ALLEGRETTI; SCHMINK, 2009).

The state of Acre, in the southwest of the Brazilian Amazon, is the birthplace of the social movement of rubber tappers. In a scenario of massive deforestation and agrarian conflicts, Chico Mendes was the main leader of the movement and, due to his campaign for socio-environmental justice against the destruction of the forest, he was murdered by cattle ranchers in 1988. His death had international repercussions, leading the media and Brazilian society to discover the existence of a social movement aimed at the defense of the Amazon, and forced the creation of a new model of land tenure regularization, respecting traditional modes of extractive production and forest conservation: the Extractive Reserves (ERs). In 1990, through decree-law 98.897, the model proposed by the rubber tappers finally became a policy and the first four ERs were created (ALLEGRETTI, 1994).

The National Council of Rubber Tappers (CNS) was created in 1985 as a liaison between local movements surrounding ERs and the state. As an “intermediary organization,” its main role is transmitting claims, organizing debates, and shaping policies in decision-making spaces (CHALMERS et al., 1997). With almost four decades of existence, the organization has grown in terms of its structure, political spaces to influence public policies, economic resources, and visibility. This happened thanks to their capacity in defining frames, building alliances, channeling resources, and seizing opportunities to strengthen the rubber tapper movement (EHRINGHAUS, 2006; HOCHSTETLER; KECK, 2007; ALLEGRETTI; SCHMINK, 2009; GOMES et al., 2012). The residents of ERs are not directly affiliated with CNS. Instead, local associations are linked to CNS, and its leaders channel the local demands of each ER through the CNS.

The intentional strategy of its main leaders to promote the enlargement of the movement surrounding the ERs brought a diversity of identities and new demands to the social movement. Nevertheless, to make reference to the movement since its early years, we decided to maintain the label of “rubber tappers”, instead of “forest extractivists” - the label they currently use. Today, the rubber tappers movement has become a national movement, developed a large structure, and adopted a broader identity. The vertical structure and the growth of the movement seem to have led to conflicts among leaders at different levels when the national leaders tried to add new ideas to the previously well-established claims.

Even though there is a large body of studies about the rubber tapper movement (ALLEGRETTI, 1994, 2002; BROWN; ROSENDO, 2000; CARDOSO, 2002; ALMEIDA, 2004; EHRINGHAUS, 2006; ALLEGRETTI; SCHMINK, 2009; VADJUNEC et al., 2011; GOMES et al., 2012, 2018), few of them addressed the internal dynamics since institutionalization of the ERs as public policy. Furthermore, few studies covered the diversity expressed in the different chapters of the movement over the decades.

Accustomed to working in an environment of right-wing governments in 2002 the rubber tappers movement faced the first term of president Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, founder of the Workers‟ Party who had participated in some important moments of the movement, such as protests after the killing of Wilson Pinheiro (in 1980) and Chico Mendes (in 1988) - leaders of the rubber tappers movement. In this new political context, the movement had to change its dynamics to continue to effectively channel their demands and garner political and financial support for the social movement (HOCHSTETLER; KECK, 2007), while at the same time having the risk of suffering setback by losing its autonomy, political visibility and leadership drain, with many of their members and advocates occupying positions in the Workers‟ Party government.

Considering this background, we address the following questions: (i) how did the relationship established with the state, and a change in the political context, affect the dynamics of the rubber tappers movement?; and (ii) how did the relationship established with the state, and a change in the political context, affect the choice of demands and tactics, and perceptions about achievements of the rubber tappers movement leaders?

Theoretical framework

We use two different theoretical frameworks to explore these questions. The first one is the new social movements theory, which is a combination of different theories and ideas since the 1960s and formed around the explanation of the origin, peculiarities and cultural importance of the movements. The second is the resource mobilization theory, which lies in understanding effective resource mobilization and resource spending to achieve the desired changes. Altogether, these theories suggest that social movements are a collective action aimed at structural transformations and social, political and cultural changes that give rise to new sources of conflicts and alter the process of constitution of collective identities. The flowchart below (Figure 1) shows how the two theoretical frameworks are integrated by highlighting concepts used to address each of the two questions of the research problem.

Figure 1
Flowchart integrating frameworks and methodology adopted

In the first, Mc Adam et al. (2008), instead of working with the classic social movement agenda, propose a more dynamic analysis of the development and outcomes of social movements, as part of a strategy to promote a broader understanding of contentious politics through the mechanisms and processes that they identify as common. The authors describe three processes: actor constitution, polarization, and scale shift. The latter will be useful in our discussion about the dynamic adopted by the rubber tapper movement in distinct political contexts of their trajectory.

Scale shift is defined by the authors as a “change in the number and level of coordinated contentious actions leading to a broader contention involving a wider range of actors and bridging their claims and identities” (MC ADAM et al., 2008:331). The study of the scale shift process as a robust mechanism in a social movement’ s emergence and maintenance is becoming more common with the emergence of transnational and global social movements (PORTA; TARROW, 2005; TARROW, 2007; PORTA et al., 2009).

In his analysis of a scale shift mechanism, Tarrow (2007) proposes a descriptive model that starts with a local action followed by the establishment of some coordination through the creation of cross-spatial collaboration. However, the coordination reaches its goal only if a practical mechanism that links social sites (brokerage) functions in consonance with a generalization of a local idea, or claim, to a broader group of potential demanders or theorization (TARROW, 2007).

The next component of the model proposed by Tarrow (2007) is an object and claim shift. The author proposes an explanation in which moving the contention from one level to another leads to changes either in the claims, or in the form in which the ideas are presented, with new targets or ideas attached to them. The sixth component of this chain is an identity shift, or an “alteration in shared definitions of a boundary between two political actors and of relations across that boundary” (TARROW, 2007: 122).

Scale shift can operate in two directions: upward, which happens in those cases in which the local action spreads beyond their original limits, to upper levels; and downward, referring to cases in which the contention goes from upper levels to regional and local levels (TARROW, 2007). According to Tarrow (2007: 132) “just as upward scale shift leads to the identification of new targets and to the making of new claims, downward scale shift allows lower-level activists to take on local targets and make local claims in new and different ways.”

Most studies refer to analyses of scale shifts involving different social movements and are centered on upward scale shifts (PORTA; TARROW, 2005; TARROW, 2007; MC ADAM et al., 2008). We analyse a case of scale shift performed by the same social movement in different periods of its trajectory, and how it was influenced by changes in the political context and institutionalization of the ERs.

The second framework is the one led by Zald and McCarthy who design the Resource Mobilization Theory focused basically on how social movements emerge and the significance of infrastructure and resource accumulation, organizational aspects, and collective coordination of actions by social movement leadership (MCCARTHY; ZALD, 1987). We focus on changes in the social movement leaders‟ perceptions about their achievements, strategies, and demands, caused by the attainment of their goals and the close relationship established with the state.

In the post-military period in Latin America, the acceptance of social movement claims by the state, the creation of democratic spaces to conduct their demands, and their recognition as significant interlocutors impacted them in a considerable way (CARDOSO, 1992). Escobar and Alvarez (1992:03) state that some social movements declined because they were unable to advance from the more disruptive tactics of the transition period to the strategies of negotiation. On the other hand, other social movements used strategies that permitted them to strengthen their ties with the state or establish processes of negotiation as an attempt to have their claims incorporated as policies (ESCOBAR; ALVAREZ, 1992; FOWERAKER, 1995). However, the organizational logic of state agencies with which social movements` leaders started to work is not based in mobilization, but on order, formalization and institutionalization (ECKSTEIN, 2001).

Formalization is defined by Lebon (1998:30) as a process by which a social movement or informal SMOs [Social Movement Organizations] become formalized, with more established rules, stricter membership requirements and higher division of labor. Institutionalization is a process by which movement representatives start to adopt more predictable and conventional strategies to present their grievances. Additionally, they establish an integrative-cooperative relationship with the state (LEBON, 1998). Professionalization is described as a process by which members of a social movement organization start to be paid for their activities.

Even though some scholars believe that the achievement of demands leads to the demobilization of groups (FOWERAKER, 1995), studies have also shown that some social movements established a relationship with the state as a strategy of having their demands either attended to or incorporated by the state, without necessarily becoming demobilized (HIPSHER, 1998; HABER, 2006). Nonetheless, in the same way that social movements influence the state, on the other hand, the state affects social movements in the way that they perceive their interests, organize collectively, and in the strategies they adopt (ESCOBAR; ALVAREZ, 1992). One of the main consequences of the establishment of a close relationship with the state is the professionalization and formalization of social movements with changes in their strategies and demands (PALEY, 2001; HABER, 2006).

Staggenborg (1988) argues that “formalized SMOs engage in fewer disruptive tactics of the sort that pressure government authorities and other elites to make concessions or provide support than do informal SMOs”. Formalized SMOs also tend to select strategies and tactics that enhance organizational maintenance (STAGGENBORG, 1988). Talking about goals and demands she states that “the institutionalization of movement tactics by formalized SMOs does not necessarily mean that movement goals become less radical” (STAGGENBORG, 1988). Differently from the group studied by Staggenborg (1988), the rubber tappers movement organizations established with the creation of ERs have few or no paid staff, and the majority of the work is done by volunteers. Some of the leaders have to deal with the lack of resources in the organization and a subsequently high dependency on external resources, mainly supplied by the state. Besides this, the formalization of the local social movements through the creation of associations was a prerequisite to having access to a series of public policies. The proposal presented by the rubber tapper social movement through the CNS already had the formation of the local associations as a crucial point for the success of the ERs, since a variety of policies could only be made a reality if the residents were organized in a formalized organization.

Methodology

To analyze the trajectory of the rubber tapper movement, we drew on different sources of information and methods. The flowchart (Figure 1) highlights the main sources of informations and methods used, as well as how they relate to each of the theoretical frameworks. The first was previous studies about different aspects of the rubber tapper movement and the creation of ERs. The second source of information was the archives of local and national organizations involved in the history of the social movement organizations surrounding the ERs. To analyze the documents collected, we considered the period, the main subject, and the source. The third was semi-structured interviews conducted with leaders of the social movements and recorded speeches and talks given by leaders of the social movement organizations in different meetings promoted by them.

All the interviews were transcribed and analyzed through the technique of discourse analysis, which refers to a range of approaches applied to analyze the structure of discourses in relation to their sócio-political and historical contexts. In our case, the technique was used to analyze elements of the theoretical frameworks that were linked to the discourse of social movement leaders, facilitating the identification of analytical elements for the research questions. Themes that emerged with frequency in the interviews were considered relevant to the study. Furthermore, the roles of the interviewees were considered in the analysis.

Also, we considered eight national leaders of CNS that we interviewed to be key informants since they are social movement entrepreneurs according to Noakes and Johnston’s definition (2005), those who have played a primordial role in the definition and development of demands, tactics, and frames within the organization. Interviews and talks were transcribed in a full and standardized manner to provide a consistently prepared and comparable textual record. Subsequently, all the transcriptions were identified in the same way, considering the differences between the positions occupied by those interviewee from within the organization.

To identify the local leaders to be interviewed, we asked for data about the local associations from the Brazilian Environmental Agency, and crossed that with the data given to us by the CNS offices in each state of the Brazilian Amazon. We interviewed 35 leaders of local associations from Amazonian ERs, asking about their relationship with the CNS and the main demands, tactics, and frames to be used by the local organization. As in the interviews with the leaders from CNS, the interviews were transcribed, and we analyzed the content of the interviews, trying to identify recurrent themes.

Results and discussion

The social movement and the state: Political-economic dynamics and struggle changes

The “empate” (non-violent standoff) promoted by rubber tappers arose as a strategy and disruptive reactions to avoid the deforestation of rubber estates and eviction of rubber tappers. However, beyond the rubber estates, the “empates” were supported by a large network of allies working to give visibility to the acts. A change in the negotiations between government and rubber tappers arose as a result of the increased visibility to their struggle.

This promoted alliance and frame alignment with other movements, especially the indigenous movement, acting at different scales, could optimize the achievement of their goals. The rubber tappers held the First National Meeting of Rubber Tappers, in Brasília, in 1985, when they discussed questions about Agrarian Reform and rights of tenure and public policies for the category (CNS, 1985). As a result of this meeting, the National Council of Rubber Tappers (CNS) was created, an entity that came to represent the interests of the movement. Also, a proposal for an innovative solution to the land issue was formulated, an agrarian reform adapted to its forms of use and occupation of the forest, called Extractive Reserves. Born in the concrete struggle of rubber tappers, the Extractive Reserves proposal was broadly identified with the cause of environmental conservation and strengthened alliances with the national and international environmental movement, giving greater projection and power of argumentation to the rubber tappers’ struggle. In the final document of the first meeting, it is possible to discern the environmental frame that was emerging among the demands for a specific land reform, health care, and economic policies for rubber: “We, the rubber tappers, demand to be recognized as rubber producers and as the real forest guardians. We do not accept a developmental policy for the Amazon that favors big enterprises which exploit the workers and destroy nature” (CNS, 1985). The meeting also brought other achievements; the movement’s adoption of a new identity as “forest guardians”, enlarged its frame adopted allowing it to make new and important alliances to expand, and it got visibility with those who had been making public policies for the Amazon.

In 1990 the scenario of environmental policies in Brazil started to change. The government established law 7.804, creating the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Natural Renewable Resources (IBAMA). Furthermore, the law established an article that allowed the creation of specially-protected areas with environmental aims.

In 1990, the federal government created the first Extractive Reserve - The Upper Juruá Extractive Reserve. It is remarkable that the decree referred to the beneficiaries of the ERs as extractivist population instead of rubber tappers, which opened the possibility for the policy being extended to other groups: “Art. 1 - Extractive reserves are territorial spaces destined to the self-sustainable exploitation and conservation of renewable natural resources used by an extractivist population” (PRESIDÊNCIA DA REPÚBLICA, 1990).

Once the first ERs were created, the rubber tappers started to look for an interlocutor within the environmental agency with whom they could establish a dialogue. In 1992, the representatives of CNS requested the creation of a center within the structure of the agency to work specifically with ERs. The IBAMA created the National Center for Sustainable Development of Traditional Populations (CNPT) recognizing the participation of civil society in the decisions of the government; and one of its main goals was “To create, implement, consolidate, manage and develop the extractive reserves together with the traditional populations that live there” (IBAMA,1992). The creation of CNPT opened a new avenue for the rubber tappers movement. Taking part in the decision-making process through CNS, rubber tappers were able to work on one of the main goals of the movement: the expansion and strengthening of the concept of ERs in the Amazon, since the common theme among many groups was the extractivism economy and land conflicts.

In addition, two important moments in the trajectory of the relationship between the government and the rubber tappers social movement happened during the term of Fernando Henrique Cardoso as president (1995-2003). The first was the appointment of the anthropologist Mary Allegretti, who had been a supporter of the rubber tapper social movement since the beginning, as Secretary of the Amazon; and the second was the appointment of Atanagildo de Deus from the state of Pará, a former president of CNS, to be the Coordinator of CNPT; the commitment to expand the ER model is pointed out by him: “when I was invited, I accepted only with the condition that I would be able to extend the concept of extractive reserves to other regions, so in a certain way I followed with the mission previously established by the movement”.

Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, comes to power as Brazilian president in 2003; he always had a close relationship with the rubber tappers movement and their leaders. Lula, appointed Marina Silva, a historical leader from the rubber tapper movement, as Minister of Environment, and the maintenance of Mary Allegretti as a head of the Secretary of Coordination of the Amazon, supported this idea. However, the policies designed for the development of the Amazon region retained many of the same aspects of previous governmental policies, based in investment in infrastructure construction - roads, dams and power lines.

For the rubber tappers particularly, the consequences of the political priorities established by the government were the weakening of Marina Silva and, consequently, of the Environment Ministry and the Secretariat of Amazonian Coordination. This fact led to the resignation of Mary Allegretti and, at the same time, Atanagildo de Deus, head of CNPT, was fired. This scenario led to a significant loss in the capacity of CNS to directly influence policy making.

On the other hand, during this period, the CNS gained other spaces that it had not previously accessed, such as participation in the National Environment Council, the National Food and Nutritional Security Council, the National Biodiversity Commission, among others. In addition, the CNS had a major impact on government institutions linked to sectoral policies in education, health, housing, credit, among others. Yet, it was during this period that the number of Resexs created in the Amazon grew substantially, with the creation of the Amazon Protected Areas Program. In short, the CNS lived in a scenario of losses and gains in political space, in which there were significant advances in the inclusion of its main demands.

In its second term, in 2007, Lula’s government launched the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC). The program was based on infrastructure construction and improvement. As historically happened, those projects, directly threatened the territories of indigenous people and local communities.

Analyzing the political conjuncture, the movement decided to reframe its struggle for ERs. In 2007, the CNS, the Amazonian Working Group (GTA), and the Coordination of Brazilian Amazonian Indigenous Organizations (COIAB) decided to re-found the Forest Peoples‟ Alliance (FPA), as pointed out by a leader of CNS from the state of Amapá:

A certain phase of Lula’s government was already passed and we realized that the environmental agenda was not a priority for the government. We felt mistreated, because this agenda is not the agenda of the traditional populations, and we decided to bring back the alliance. I believe that the alliance came up at the right moment, because now we are having the same problems that we had in the past, the problems that were the reason why the alliance was formed the first time […].

The main goal of the re-emerged The Forest People’s Alliance was to fight for the conservation of the Amazonian forest and improvement in the quality of life of the traditional people through the framework of climate change and Payment for Environmental Services (PES), as pointed out by one leader of CNS from the state of Amazonas:

[…] So we decided to use as a main theme in our discussions ideas that were in the media and increasing in awareness among the general public. We realized that climate change was the main theme, and it got a central place in our discourse. In this way, we became the first group in the Brazilian Amazon to protest against climate change and ask for an open discussion with the government at different levels […].

In addition, they claimed that indigenous people and traditional communities must be fairly paid for the environmental services they provide for Brazil, and for the World, by their efforts in conserving the region’s natural resources; bring the theme of PES as one of their main demands. This new frame adopted and demand, sprouted conflicts within the social movement, showing the dilemmas of the group. At the top, the national leaders were demanding PES. At the bottom, local leaders and constituencies demanded health care, education, economic policies for forest products, land reform, and creation of more ERs. The tactics employed by each group differed too. The national level leaders were looking to use less disruptive tactics such as conversations with government officials, while the local leaders were looking to the use of more direct strategies, such as protests, sit-ins, and occupation of public offices. The conflicts that arose exposed the repercussions of the relationship established between the rubber tappers movement and the state. While a leader of the Forest Peoples Alliance pointed out that “we need to establish some regulatory frameworks to universalize the program [PES] for all Brazilian forest peoples in the sense of compensating those communities for the services they have been providing”; a local constituent presented an opposing idea: “we don’t need “bolsa floresta [an PES program];”we need access to schools, healthcare, education to develop our citizenship, our culture. Because what we need is to develop our extractive reserves, not the charity of any government”.

At first glance, it appears that local constituents and national leaders define the main demands of the rubber tapper social movements differently. However the latter, as social movement entrepreneurs, have a strategic position in relation to the access to information and allies from different environments and, consequently, can identify emerging political tendencies, using ideas and concepts as a mean to mobilize local constituents and potential allies, and neutralize potential counter actors. Therefore, it could be that the demand of PES is just a display of such a strategy. Thus, it appears that the demand for PES in a framework of global warming and climate change has been used by national leaders, not just as an alternative to the lack of policies for forest activities, but also as a means to regain their legitimacy and capacity to influence in the making of public policies.

Moreover, after the first conflicts, the national leaders quickly identified the need to promote a downward scale shift about the main frame and source of demands they had articulated, as bilateral activists, which were still to be recognized and adopted by local leaders, as pointed out by a leader of the FPA: “This alliance cannot be an alliance just among the leaders of the organizations; we will work to mobilize our people; the base of our movement must be involved and be clear that we are mobilizing ourselves again”.

The dilemma faced by the movement was about how to direct efforts and scarce resources of the rubber tappers movement to perform both actions: to strengthen the base, and at the same time keep their capacity to influence in the design of public policies within the country. The political opportunities and alliances built by the rubber tappers movement provided them with resources to optimize their demands and gain enough visibility to project themselves as political actors.

However, they established a strong coordination that allowed them to enlarge its social network and perform some important process of brokerage, claims, and identity shift. In the processes of brokerage, the vertical relationship established with strategically important allies was important, as was the building of horizontal alliances. The strengthening of ties with social movements from the same level of action was important to confer legitimacy. The use of a large frame was important in the identity shift, and in the achievement of a successful scale shift.

The attempt to perform a new upward-scale shift was blocked by the tensions within the movements, and the perception among the leaders of the need to perform a downward-scale shift to bring the local leaders to the same place. Despite the similarities among the two processes of scale shift performed by the leaders, the downward scale shift seems to be more costly than the upward scale shift performed earlier, considering the large structure developed by the social movement and the lack of resources. The adoption of the master frame related to global warming and PES seems to be an opportunity to have access to resources that can be useful to alleviate the internal tensions in the movement.

Diverging paths: achievements and demands

To better understand the institutionalization of a public policy proposed by the rubber tapper movement and its impacts on the movement itself, it is important to consider and understand what the leaders of the social movement identify as the main achievements of the movement, since its emergence. The perception of the leaders about the achievements is important because it projects ideas about the relationship with the state, and reveals the results of the establishment of ties between them. When asked about the most important outcomes for the rubber tappers movement, the main and most common response among the leaders of the movement is related to the creation of the ERs, and its transformation into public policy, as emphasized by a leader of CNS from the state of Pará:

I believe that the recognition of our territoriality by the federal government was one of our biggest advances. No other group has as many territories as we do, extractivists and the indigenous people. Damn! It is a lot of land! But we still have a lot of comrades in the forest that don’t have tenure over their land. We have more than one hundred demands [for creation of extractive reserves] presented by them to the Institute Chico Mendes from different parts of the Amazon! It shows how our struggle was important […].

As of December 2021, 76 areas were recognized as ERs by federal and state governments, encompassing an area of over 14 million ha in eight states of the Brazilian Amazon (Figure 2). Furthermore, the model proposed by the rubber tappers spread throughout the country and was adopted by different social groups that have their life based in the collection of extractivist products for subsistence and as a source of income.

Figure 2
Number and area of federal and state ERs in the Brazilian Amazon

The recognition of ERs was followed by the formalization and institutionalization of local social movements through the creation of local associations. In a proposal designed to improve the autonomy of local groups over their territories, and to increase the participation and representation of residents in the decision-making process vis-a-vis the state, the rubber tapper movement emphasized the role of associations.

There are other public policies demanded that were recognized by the leaders as important victories. The recognition of ERs residents as beneficiaries of the National Program of Agrarian Reform, for instance, gave them access to a variety of lines of credit that are intended for the construction of houses and the acquisition of materials to be used for income generation and subsistence of the families. In many cases, the main reason to form an association was to have access to public policies, as pointed out by a president of a local association of ER in Maranhão:

People today recognize the importance of the association in the extractive reserve. Through the association they can have access to projects, to resources to improve their life. Before the creation of the association, fishers didn’t have access to any kind of governmental credit. Today credit is arriving for fishers, so they can buy a boat, a fishing-net. They can have a decent house in which to live. It is an advantage for us.

Another achievement identified by the leaders of the rubber tapper movement as important is the occupation of positions in mainstream politics, as a way to access governmental funding and influence the design of public policies, as illustrated by a former president of the CNS from the state of Acre:

The movement changed, and had different achievements as important as land security. The search for other spaces to be occupied by leaders in other sectors of the society, such as the parliament and the executive power, occupying other sources to strengthen the struggle, was a victory. It was a conquest that happened a lot in different parts of the Amazonia […].

Another achievement pointed out by the leaders of the rubber tapper movement is the cultural exchange promoted by the group, in the understanding by society and the state of the themes related to the main frames used by the social movement. Some of the main claims and frames used by the group since the rise of the movement, such as public participation in social and environmental policy design, the importance of considering cultural and social factors in the creation of protected areas, and the design of specific policies for forest people, influenced the adoption of these concepts in the design of subsequent policies, as we can see in the discourse of one of the leaders of the CNS:

The biggest change, the greatest conquest was that the movement gained visibility and the society became cognizant of us. Today you can see debates in the schools, the children talking about the rubber tappers, the environmental consciousness that we brought about. When we started to talk about sustainable development nobody was talking about that. We were the first […].

Thus, these achievements recognized by leaders of the rubber tapper movement includes accomplishments related to the relationship between social movements and the state, the filling of political positions in mainstream politics and state agencies, the recognition by the broader society of their role as social actors, and the broader acceptance of frames used by them.

Analyzing the demands presented by leaders of local associations as the most important for residents of ERs, the most frequently cited was support for commercializing production, infrastructure - which includes health care centers and schools, and land regularization through Use Concessions (CDRU). These demands, besides the creation of the ERs, are the same since the formation of the social movement. This raises a question about how effective the social movement has been to push the state to meet its demand at the local level, as expressed by a leader of the CNS:

We achieved the creation of many extractive reserves, but the people are still there without a school in the community, without health care, without any support to sell their products […]. So we recognize the demands of the local associations, the residents of the extractive reserves, but we have to use a more convincing discourse. Do you know how many groups have been requesting land, health care and education in the Amazon currently? Most of them! […].

It is important to highlight in this discourse that the leaders of CNS recognize the main demands of the local associations and, consequently, the residents, but believe that the presentation of these demands should be part of a larger strategy to convince different audiences to support the movement’s demands. The CNS leaders have been becoming bilateral activists, since they have to operate in different circles - local, national, and, in some cases, international.

Considering the perception of leaders about the movement’s achievements, and the choices of strategies and demands, it seems that at the different levels of the rubber tappers movement, the relationship with the state was viewed as a fundamental element of the accomplishments of the movement. The main consequence of this perception is the attenuation in the strategies chosen by the social movement, from more disruptive to more conventional, even though disruptive strategies are still used in specific contexts and moments.

Final considerations

The study contributes to the literature on the dynamics of social movements and scale shift, showing how different frames can be performed by the same social movement in different periods of its trajectory. The case of institutionalization of a public policy they proposed, and the outcome of reaching their goals suggests that the enlargement of a social movement can cause tension among their main leaders, without implying its demobilization.

At first glance, the scale shifts performed by the rubber tappers movement at the two moments - from local to international in the 1990s, and from international to local in the 2000s - seem to be very similar. In both cases they performed a scale shift process, having the dynamic of each one of the steps influenced by the direction of the action (downward and upward). However, the fact that in the second shift, the mobilization was initiated at a higher level and with active involvement of national leaders; it demonstrates the bilateral activism they carried out, with the accumulation of roles as both coordinators and brokers.

The movement’s trajectory was marked by the dilemma of trying to establish a close relationship with the state and also keep their political autonomy. Being close to the state was important to guarantee wide participation in the design of public policies, to have access to economic resources, and, consequently, to strengthen the rubber tapper movement.

Just as the rubber tappers movement was looking for a way to achieve their demands, the state was seeking to decrease the pressure from the social movement and to secure acquiescence with state actions. Economic power as the main resource provider for the movement was the best way for the state to gain acceptance of its actions.

The economic power of the state as the main provider of economic resources seems to be a strong factor in the change in social movement dynamics, which had to cope with great dilemmas. The consequence of economic dependency on the state is not necessarily demobilization, but certainly in changes in the strategies displayed by the group to push their demands.

The case of the rubber tappers movement in the Brazilian Amazon, and the changes in the movement related to the achievement of their demands as well as the relationship established with the state in their trajectory analyzed, contribute to our understanding about the dynamics of the social movements in Latin America.

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Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  19 Feb 2024
• Date of issue
  2023

History

• Received
  13 Apr 2022
• Accepted
  22 June 2023