Development and governance of rural territories : analysis of interaction dynamics within two institutional arrangements in Brazilian Amazon ; Développement et gouvernance des territoires ruraux : une analyse des dynamiques d'interactions dans deux dispositifs institutionnels en Amazonie brésilienne

Abstract

This thesis proposes a renewed analytic framework of the governance of rural territories, implemented within institutional arrangements. In a globalized world, where focus on growth processes leads to fast and frequently poorly controlled mutations, territorial development plays a fundamental role. Mobilizing actors and developing local resources supports the differentiation of territories and contributes to the sustainability of actions. Public policies can support this approach by proposing institutional arrangements such as the "Territorial Development Collegiate Body" set up by the Brazilian government's "Territories of citizenship" program. Nevertheless, the low demographic density of many rural territories, the existence of societal projects strongly differentiated and the limited competences on governance constitute many other obstacles. This work aims to enrich the reflection, starting from investigations carried out in two contrasted territories in the State of Pará, located in Brazilian Amazon : Baixo Amazonas and Nordeste Paraense. Surveys on territorial dynamics and interaction dynamics were carried out with actors participating within collegiate bodies and with those at the level of "Local Productive Arrangements". Zoning based on stakeholders' mental representations highlighted the determining influence of entrepreneurial dynamics, normative frameworks, urbanization and infrastructures on the evolution of the territories. It seems that initiatives of local actors and public institutions are insufficiently coordinated to support rural development. Social networks and proximity analysis carried out starting from ethnographic and sociometric interviews show that institutional arrangements facilitate collaborations between actors who are geographically distant or initially not very inclined to communicate, while limiting closure on logics of similarity or local logics. This reveals that a constant assistance must be brought particularly to the members of the arrangements who are embedded in networks at ...