Ciclos de bloqueios de rodovia em Novo Progresso (Amazônia)

Based on the blockades of the BR-163 Cuiabá-Santarém highway in the southwest of Pará, this paper discusses how this collective action was prioritized as a form of interlocution with the political and institutional system by heterogeneous and unequal social agents, who occasionally allied with each other: large and small rural producers; small farmers; miners; businessmen; traders; logging companies; and indigenous people. The research is based on ethnography in the region, with a focus on the municipality of Novo Progresso. It analyzes reports, academic research, and administrative documents. To demonstrate the dynamics of social mobilizations and their relationship with the federal government, I analyze cycles of protests that have permeated dozens of highway blockades since 2002. Discussing the literature on social movements and political confrontations, this study reveals a large role for traditional political and social representatives and for agendas referring to territorialities in these collective actions on the BR-163 highway in Pará. I argue that it is important to analyse mobilizations outside the major urban centers, led not only by subaltern agents, but also by dominant, reactionary and/or unequal agents.