THE EUCALYPTUS FARMING'S "BLACK BOX": SCIENTIFIC DISPUTES, POLITICAL DISPUTES AND SOCIETY PROJECTS

Abstract

In this work, I discuss aspects of the scientific controversy about the eucalyptus tree in Brazil and try to understand the political disputes and the social-environmental projects brought up by the different contenders. Inspired by the reflections of Bruno Latour about the scientific make, I intend to rebuilt the path covered by the naturalist Augusto Ruschi in creating reforestation notions and methods which gained a different political instrumentation in the state of Espírito Santo during the decades of 1940-1950 and 1960-1970: at first, his arguments were near the “rational forestry”; then he adopted a strong discourse against the eucalyptus farming. I argue that, more than the rejection of the eucalyptus itself, Ruschi positioned himself against a specific social economical project: the one from the Group Aracruz Celulose S.A.