Social Inequality and Renewable Energy: The Case of Afro-Descendant Territories in Northeastern Brazil

Objective: To discuss the relationship between the installation of wind farms and their implications for traditional quilombola communities in northeastern Brazil. Theoretical Framework: The climate crisis has had profound impacts on societies. In this context, the transition to renewable energies is urgent. However, the expansion of wind energy in northeastern Brazil perpetuates inequalities and rights violations in quilombola communities, reflecting a necropolitics that benefits large corporations at the expense of vulnerable populations. Method: Utilization of participatory, non-extractive, and action research methodologies in a quilombola community in Paraíba, Quilombo do Talhado. The investigation has an ethnographic starting point and is enriched with testimonies and experiences from the residents of this community, culminating in an analysis that articulates these testimonies with a theoretical-analytical repertoire to understand the phenomenon of wind farm installation in this community. Results and Discussion: The results indicate significant environmental impacts caused by wind farms in areas close to quilombola communities, such as heavy vehicle traffic, deforestation, structural damage, watercourse contamination, and mental disturbances due to the constant noise from the turbines. These challenges amplify the socio-spatial and racial inequalities faced by quilombola communities, which are severely impacted, while the economic benefits are restricted to a few. Research Implications: The study highlights the need to promote a more equitable and inclusive approach to climate solutions, considering the specific vulnerabilities of traditional communities, such as quilombola communities. Originality/Value: The research dismantles the fallacy of wind farm sustainability, showing how these enterprises perpetuate socio-environmental inequalities and necropolitical practices in quilombola communities in northeastern Brazil.