INDEPENDENT MECHANISMS AND MULTILATERAL ORGANIZATIONS: Institutional Limits of Socio-Environmental Responsibility and the resistance of the affected communities

• Grant number: 25/19777-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: December 01, 2025
• End date: June 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Urban and Regional Planning - Fundamentals of Urban and Regional Planning
• Principal Investigator: Marcel Fantin
• Grantee: Douglas de Almeida Silva
• Supervisor: Lorena Fabiana Bottaro
• Host Institution: Instituto de Arquitetura e Urbanismo de São Carlos (IAU). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento (UNGS), Argentina
• Associated to the scholarship: 23/10435-6 - Independent mechanisms and multilateral organizations: institutional limits of social and environmental responsibility and resistance of affected communities, BP.PD

Abstract

With the advent of neoliberalism in the 1990s, social tensions around the world have been exacerbated, especially in Latin America. International Financial Institutions (IFIs) have created Accountability Mechanisms (IAMs) to mediate conflicts with civil society. In this way, it is investigated whether the dispute resolution processes of the Independent Mechanisms are sufficient to promote the social participation of the communities affected by IFIs in the search for environmental justice. Our hypothesis is that dispute resolution processes represent for the affected communities a strategy of war of position, while dispute resolution may also amplify the socio-environmental damage originally caused by multilateral projects due to accountability as a general rule. The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of accountability on the resolution of disputes about social and environmental inequalities caused by multilateral projects. Exploratory research will have a triangular methodology: documentary research, life story interviews and action research. Documentary research primary and secondary sources will be obtained through contact with the leaders of affected communities. Action research will be carried out together with communities using systematization of experiences. Finally, life history interviews with the leaders of the communities affected by IFIs, a total of seven people. The methodology for analysing results will be based on the discourse analysis of interviews and empirical documentation. This research points to the emergence of the incorporation of environmental externalities in the face of increasing environmental inequalities in the anthropocene.