The Ambivalent Conflict in Social Central-East Brazil: Rural Development, Symbolic Violence and Conservation

Use & 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, understood as environmental, which update the dispute by determining the way in which natural elements are used & appropriated. Since the arrival of new immigrants in the 1970s, meanings attributed to social identities have been built that clash with behaviors, characteristics, & 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 & expectations. The aim of this article is to discuss configuration of the profile of "gauchos" & "goianos" in the Central Western region, with their historically constructed clashes & accommodations, & contemporary readjustments associated with incorporating the "environmental issue" into local dynamics. Adapted from the source document.