‘They come in to devour nature and to destroy what we preserve!’ – Ecocide, capitalism, and quilombola resistance in Cocalinho, Maranhão

Abstract

EThe article analyzes ecocide in Cocalinho, a quilombola community in Maranhão, in Brazil’s Cerrado. In the first part, a theoretical section refines the traditional criminal-law conception and defines ecocide as an economic, political, social, and cultural process of radical, violent appropriation of nature that converts it into a commodity consumable up to the limit of profit, despite the destruction of human and non-human life. Operationally, this definition supports a four-stage analytical model. The second section outlines methods. Residents’ perceptions—central to the model—were collected in July 2023 through ethnographic fieldwork with participant observation and semi-structured and open interviews. To systematize and analyze perceptions, two instruments were created: the Ecocide Radar (quantitative) and the Panel of Voices (qualitative). The final part, an applied section, discusses results from Cocalinho, indicating a stage of ‘intense competition’, in which quilombolas perceive the ecocidal attacks as strong, yet consider themselves protected enough to confront them. The article concludes that this stage is extremely dangerous and demands public action to safeguard nature, ensure sustainable development, promote well-living (bem-viver), and uphold democracy.