Water as Territory: Decolonial Alternatives to Development in Brazil’s Vale do Ribeira

Abstract

1. This article examines the relationship between water, territory, and development from a decolonial perspective, focusing on the experiences of quilombola communities in Brazil’s Vale do Ribeira and their resistance to the commodification of the Ribeira de Iguape River. The study critiques dominant development paradigms grounded in modernity, coloniality, anthropocentrism, and market-oriented approaches to nature, arguing that such frameworks reduce water to an exploitable resource and obscure the epistemologies of traditional communities. Drawing on decolonial theory, post-development studies, and field research on the Movement of Those Threatened by Dams in the Vale do Ribeira (MOAB), the article analyzes how quilombola communities articulate alternative ways of understanding water, territory, and collective life. The discussion highlights the historical conflicts surrounding hydroelectric projects, especially the Tijuco Alto dam, and shows how community mobilization has challenged state and corporate development agendas. The article argues that the Ribeira River is not merely an environmental asset, but a living territorial, cultural, and epistemological reference for the communities that depend on it. By foregrounding quilombola resistance, intercultural mobilization, and relational understandings of nature, the study contributes to debates on decoloniality, the rights of nature, territorial justice, and alternatives to development.