SCIENTIFIC AND POLITICAL DISPUTES IN GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT: global and local perspectives

The article reflects on the role of science in addressing environmental issues and demonstrates how this knowledge has been strategically used to (i) ensure the implementation of global and local regulations and (ii) drive the appropriation of natural resources. As a resource, the text grounds the discourses shaping the governance of the Guarani Aquifer at two levels: global and local – specifically, the Ribeirão Preto region. Through a bibliographic review, document analysis, semi-structured interviews, and participation in public hearings, the results highlight the prominence of the technical-scientific discourse in the environmental debate, positioned within the hierarchy of rationalized knowledge that operates as a regime of truth. Furthermore, it reveals the strategic mobilization of scientific knowledge by local economic agents to circumvent global regulations and achieve the appropriation of natural resources.

Water governance; Society and water resources; Participatory Management; Environnemental and Expert know-how; Guarani Aquifer