Developmental Ideology and Banality of Environmental Evil in the Republican History of Brazil: From the Ferrovia do Diabo to the Rodovia Transamazônica

Abstract

In the Republican History of Brazil, the obsessive desire for modernization has been manifesting in the political and economic culture of groups that assume the leadership of the State, either under the condition of elected governments or imposed by coups d’état. This article contextualizes the issue of environmental crisis by establishing a relationship with the "banality of environmental evil" contained in some of the major developmental projects designed during the Republican period (1889-1985). Finally, the paper examines the developmental trajectory through the telescope of Environmental History, armed with theoretical tools offered by some authors, including Hannah Arendt, Adorno, Edgar Morin, Enrique Dussel, and Paulo Freire.