The Environment in Question: A Arena Analysis of Public Debates in Marica / RJ - Project Port of Jaconé

The port project in Marica, far from being a consensual development project, makes the city of Marica, an important platform of environmental, political and ideological struggles in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, constituting an arena of public debate, mobilizing various actors (among which stand out, environmentalists, residents and friends of Marica, entrepreneurs, agents and state politicians, fishermen etc.) around the environmental issue. This research on the Port in Marica construction project was carried out during the period 2013-2014. The port project presented, as a proposal for progress and development of Marica region, jobs for local people, and this made secondary the prospect of Jaconé Beach destruction, even though a fish and whales nursery. However, the project brought up debates about social and environmental issues, supported by the performance of the environmental movement SOS Jaconé Porto Não and also the public prosecutor, which is a partner in this process of struggle in Marica against the construction of the Port of Jaconé. We investigate the relationship established between the municipalities and the industrial exploration projects related to the logistics of Petrochemical Complex in Rio de Janeiro, COMPERJ, where the port is located, seeking examples of other Brazilian cities that have gone through similar processes. From the environmental sociology of Hannigan (1997) and Mario Fuks approach (2001), we follow the shaping of public arenas debates and the construction of the environmental problem. We use qualitative research, speeches analysis, strategies, interests, and mobilized intentions of various social actors in the construction of arguments and processing of relevant topics in the debates arenas, and in the construction process of the environmental problem.