The environmentalization of social conflicts in the Central Western region of Brazil: rural development, symbolic violence and the conservation of nature/A ambientalizacao dos conflitos sociais no centro-oeste brasileiro: desenvolvimento rural, violencia simbolica e a conservacao da natureza

Use and appropriation of the cultural space biogeographically located in the Central Western region of Brazil has historically been a source of conflict. Currently, new social agents have demanded participation in occupying that space, giving rise to new conflicts, now understood as environmental, which update the dispute by determining the way in which natural elements are used and appropriated. Since the arrival of new immigrants in the 1970s, meanings attributed to social identities have been built that clash with behaviors, characteristics, and values associated with the local population. Opposition between these two profiles is felt sometimes subtly, other times explicitly, suggesting that this aspect guides the configuration of social identities and, as a result, of the conflicts between the agents' demands, logic and expectations. The aim of this article is to discuss configuration of the profile of "gauchos" and "goianos" in the Central Western region, with their historically constructed clashes and accommodations, and contemporary readjustments associated with incorporating the "environmental issue" into local dynamics.