ABSTRACT
Throughout Brazilian history, Northeast droughts have been the context for massive rural flight and intra-national migrations. State policies and interventions have played a significant role in promoting or restraining the movements of those affected by such “natural” plights. This chapter examines the political ecology and moral economies that have underlined State and peasant practices around drought and mobility since the end of the nineteenth century. It compares two historical periods marked by contrasting regional perspectives on nature-society relations within Brazilian semi-arid environments: the period known as the “fight against drought” (1915 to 1980) and the period of “coexistence with the semi-arid” (1990 to now). This new perspective on nature-society relations is examined within the context of agrodiesel development. Results show that symbolic and material practices around drought and peasant mobility have played a significant role in the (re)making of specific regimes and configurations of conviviality and inequality in Brazil.
