Inconclusive Megaprojects in the Pan Amazon: A Sociological and Communicative Interpretation

Abstract

This article offers a sociological and communicative interpretation of megaprojects in the Pan Amazon region, understood as deliberate actions by states and large economic actors aimed at integrating global markets through logistical energy ecological and biological corridors. Rather than treating these initiatives as natural outcomes of development or globalization, the analysis demonstrates how they produce profound territorial reconfigurations, intensify land concentration and generate forced displacement of traditional peoples and communities. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in multiple Amazonian regions and on the work of the New Social Cartography of the Amazon Project, the article advances the concept of inconclusive megaprojects as a central analytical tool, emphasizing their structurally unfinished and prolonged character as a source of uncertainty enduring social conflicts and dispossession. The study also examines the widespread use of geometric and discursive metaphors such as corridors complexes arcs and mosaics, interpreted as contemporary strategies of neocolonial power. The article argues that these processes generate permanent conflict and sustained resistance, calling for a critical reassessment of dominant notions of development planning and environmental protection in the Amazon.