Sustainable Amazon Plan (PAS)

         SUSTAINABLE AMAZON PLAN AND UNEVEN DEVELOPMENT1
                                   WELBSON DO VALE MADEIRA2


Introduction

        The Sustainable Amazon Plan (PAS) was unveiled by the Brazilian Government
as the main benchmark for a new model of economic development for the Amazon - one
that could encourage economic growth, meet the principle demands of the local popu-
lation and break with previous models. In this article, we shall analyse the latter aspect,
stressing the relationship between the PAS and the idea of sustainable development and
programmes linked to the national axes of integration and development (ENIDs).
        We would surmise that positivist and neo-positivist conceptions about development
appear in all developmental plans in Brazil. In the specific case of the PAS, in addition
to the theoretical hallmarks common to previous plans, what is striking is the call for
a so-called sustainable development model, the cornerstones of which were cemented
against the backdrop of the changes to the world economy from the 1970s.
        There are two major lines of thought as regards interpreting economic development
in the Amazon. On the one hand, those explicitly referenced in positivist and neo-positivist
conceptions, albeit to a greater or lesser degree. They can be found in texts by governments
and authors whose main reference is liberalism or Keynesianism. It is believed that these
views do not allow for the real meaning and the outer appearance of phenomena to be
distinguished from each other. On the other hand, you have the interpretations that are
chiefly based on the Critique of Political Economy and Political Geography. This article
follows the latter school of thought.
        It is important to stress dialectic logic within the Marxist framework and how it
differs from formal logic. In accordance with Lefèbvre (1995), formal logic fits positivism
well, bearing in mind that it is important to understand the relationships between phe-
nomena for this approach, although not necessarily their causes.
        As the positivist and neo-positivist conceptions were deemed inadequate, historical
and dialectic materialism have been taken as a general reference for the research that
culminated in this article. To be more specific, the relevance of the theory of uneven
geographic development (SMITH, 1988; HARVEY, 2004; 2006; 2010) must be stressed,

1. This article is the result of doctorate research at the Centre for Higher Studies on Amazonia, Federal University
of Pará (UFPA), with the support of the Maranhão Research and Scientific and Technological Development Support
Foundation (FAPEMA).
2. Professor in the Department of Economy, Federal University of Maranhão (UFMA). Master in Economy (UNESP).
PhD candidate in Sustainable Development in the Humid Tropics, in NAEA / UFPA. E-mail: welbsonmadeira@uol.com.br.
20                                                   Madeira


namely as concerns analysing the socio-spatial changes in the Amazon stemming from
developmentalist plans.
       After this introduction, we shall demonstrate the origin of the idea of sustainable
development, how it was institutionalised and the factors that helped it be taken up
by large corporate groups. We shall then focus on some of the changes in the Amazon,
highlighting the transition from policies based on the “frontier economy” paradigm
(BECKER, 2010) towards policies based around the idea of sustainable development
(BRUNDTLAND, 1991). This is followed by an analysis of the PAS in the light of the