Territorialization of palm oil and silent violence in the Castanhalzinho Community, Concórdia do Pará - PA

Abstract

This article analyzes the impacts of oil palm monoculture territorialization in the Castanhalzinho community, in Concórdia do Pará, focusing on forms of slow violence affecting the local peasantry. The objective is to understand how agribusiness expansion, driven by public policies and corporate interests, reshapes territory and ways of life. The research adopts a qualitative approach, combining literature review, document analysis, and fieldwork, including interviews and audiovisual records. The findings show that oil palm expansion leads to environmental degradation, pesticide contamination, loss of territorial autonomy, and transformations in social and cultural relations within the community. It also highlights the dismantling of traditional productive practices and the intensification of territorial conflicts. Based on the concept of slow violence, the study demonstrates that these impacts occur gradually and cumulatively, disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations. The study concludes that oil palm territorialization represents not only an economic transformation but also reinforces historical inequalities and neocolonial dynamics. Nevertheless, peasant resistance is evident through community organization and the affirmation of quilombola identity, which function as strategies to defend territory and promote sustainable alternatives.