A natureza política das Minas: mineração, sociedade e ambiente no século XVIII

Abstract

The assignment of a predatory and rudimentary character to the gold exploration practiced in Portuguese America in the eighteenth century spread the image of a mining society ignorant of the consequences of their actions on their physical environment. The documentary sources indicate, however, that the locals not only recognized the adverse consequences of mining activities on the environment, but also suggested measures for the recovery of affected areas. From the study of gold exploration in the captaincy of Minas Gerais, between the years 1702 and 1799, this thesis is dedicated to questioning this consecrated and traditional interpretation on the eighteenth mining and the analysis of the representations constructed on the nature of that context of intense gold exploration. Our documentation consisted of official sources produced by local and regional authorities of the captaincy and the Crown; memorials texts, philosophical and literary, manuscripts and printed surveyed in Brazil and Portugal; and archaeological studies. In that historical context, the dependence on natural resources - such as wood and water - was decisive for increasing the auriferous production. The relationship between society and nature were locus for privileged political negotiations and charges of certain ideals. The historical subjects appropriated the prevailing concepts of nature in defense of specific interests and ideas (highlighting negative moral interpretation of mining society), or to enjoy social and economic benefits. This thesis, therefore, proposes an interpretation in which favors specific representations elaborated by the eighteenth mining society itself on their relations with the physical environment in the course of mining, and which were very different from the interpretations produced a posteriori on the subject. Around the practical issues involving mining, Minas colonial society was guided by exclusive precepts and privileged certain representations of their political relations with nature.