Desertos de água: representações sociais da barragem para jovens de municípios gaúchos atingidos pela usina hidrelétrica de Itá

Abstract

Justified by the progressive demand for energy, hydroelectric power plants are implemented in an authoritarian manner in Brazilian territory, promoting socio-environmental impacts. By understanding the permanence of damage through different generations, this research aimed to investigate the social representations of the dam of young people affected by the Itá Hydroelectric Power Plant, considering the municipalities of Aratiba, Mariano Moro, Marcelino Ramos and Severiano de Almeida, territory affected located in Rio Grande do Sul. Qualitative in nature, the methodological design was based on a State of Knowledge research, followed by field research that brought together twenty-four young people in four focus groups, one per municipality. The field data collection took place in February 2024, which were organized and subjected to thematic analysis based on Social Representations Theory sociogenic approach. Although young people claim that they live in a “post-dam” historical moment, placing the project in the past, the investigation results pointed to the existence of temporal, spatial and psychic social representations that illustrate the participants’ understanding about the intergenerational impacts produced by the hydroelectric megaproject. Aspects such as environmental destruction, microclimatic changes, distress about the future that is justified by the insecurity feeling which reflects fear of the possible risk of disruption, and the perception of injustice in the face of the reallocation of tax revenues are highlighted as consequences experienced by the young population in their daily lives. These experiences influence the access of these people to the rights guaranteed by the Youth Statute. It is concluded that, anchored in a promise of regional development, the fruits of the dam are not harvested by the new generations, who criticize the insertion of hydroelectric energy as a renewable source, indicating the urgency of thinking about other forms of energy generation that benefit the populations in to the detriment of the profit produced for companies. Therefore, changing the social representation of the dam as something of the past through political articulation can still offer ways to claim rights for populations affected by this field of conflict in the present that remains open to the production of suffering.