This article examines the occupations as a form of struggle and resistance of a rural community affected by hydroelectric plants on the river basin of the Piranga river, in the county of Guaraciaba, southeast of Minas Gerais. The work describes, over the period of 1995 to 2010, the resistance of the people affected by dams to remain on the land. The sources of information in this study come from the practical studies conducted in the period of 5th to 7th of February, 2010, in addition to document analyzes of e-mails of social organizations during the occupation. It is considered that in historic resistance to dams, territorial identity and the network of social articulation between the various actors contrary to the projects have become the main elements of social cohesion that promoted the sociability, solidarity and, mainly, the fixedness of the population in its territory.
environmental conflict; resistance; occupations; dams