THE AMAZON BEYOND THE FORESTS, RIVERS AND SCHOOLS: SOCIAL REPRESENTATIONS AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS¹

Abstract

The Amazon has historically been represented as a terrestrial paradise in social imaginaries. However, over recent decades, it has been converted into a complex subject with a number of dilemmas to be solved. This study sought to gain an insight into the social representations of environmental problems and the impacts of these problems on the daily lives of teachers working in Castanhal, the State of Pará, Brazil. It uses a theoretical and methodological framework based on Social Representation Theory and the principles and methods of ethnography. A questionnaire was conducted with 121 teachers and complemented by group discussions and participant observation. The findings show the existence of shared representations formed from the environmental problems experienced on a daily basis by the teachers, such as deforestation and climate change. These representations reaffirm the teachers’ conceptions of nature and the culture and lifestyles of Amazonian populations.

Key-words:
Social representations; Environmental problems; the Amazon