Amazonia 4.0: Scaling IT for a Green Transition in Brazilian Agriculture

This project will conduct an ethnographic analysis of a unique technology-driven
green transition initiative called Amazônia 4.0. The destructive exploitation of the Amazon rainforest has for long been central to the Brazilian economy. In response to the environmental and climatic consequences, Amazônia 4.0 proposes an economic model supported by advanced ‘4.0 technologies’ that claims to develop local resources without environmental degradation and without marginalising the people living in and off the rainforest. While Amazônia 4.0 poses as an exemplary green transition initiative, it brings into question how the conflicting interests of disparate stakeholders (e.g. indigenous groups, settlers, scientists, and entrepreneurs) can be negotiated, and how the new technologies affect their relationships to each other and to the rainforest environment. Our project thus addresses how green transitions can
be implemented in practice and what role(s) new technologies may play in this
regard.