THE PRACTICE OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS BY SUBNATIONAL ACTORS: A STUDY OF MARANHÃO'S PERFORMANCE IN CONSÓRCIO AMAZÔNIA LEGAL, CONSÓRCIO BRASIL CENTRAL AND CONSÓRCIO NORDESTE

• Grant number: 25/05982-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: October 01, 2025
• End date: September 30, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science - International Politics
• Principal Investigator: Guilherme Augusto Guimarães Ferreira
• Grantee: Victor Hugo de Oliveira
• Host Institution: Instituto de Políticas Públicas e Relações Internacionais (IPPRI). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research project investigates the participation of the state of Maranhão in three Brazilian public consortia: Consórcio Interestadual de Desenvolvimento Sustentável do Nordeste (CNE), Consórcio Brasil Central (BrC) and Consórcio Interestadual de Desenvolvimento Sustentável da Amazônia Legal (CAL). The study aims to understand how Maranhão, facing limitations in terms of financial resources and technical capacities, achieves significant international engagement through its involvement and collaboration in these consortia. The central hypothesis is that despite its limited resources and technical capabilities, participation in public consortia allows Maranhão to promote its international engagement through shared strategies, cost-sharing, and the creation of a joint identity with other subnational entities. A case study methodology will be employed, combining bibliographic and documentary analysis with semi-structured interviews with key actors from the consortia and the Maranhão state government. Data collection will utilize automated web scraping techniques, employing Python to extract information from the news feeds of the three consortia and the state of Maranhão, subsequently stored in the open-source software Recoll. Qualitative content analysis will be used to analyze the data. Based on the Maranhão case, this research seeks to contribute to the field of International Relations by uncovering the mechanisms, strategies, and outcomes of the participation of subnational actors with limited capacities and resources in consortia. (AU)