Gestão social da água mineral no município de Cambuquira - Minas Gerais

Abstract

The issue related to water management, especially the exposure of the problem of water scarcity reported by the media and official organizations, has largely guided the theme of this work. However, this study focuses not on water from the rivers and water resources defined by the Water Law, but the mineral water defined according to the Mineral Water Code. As a study locus, the municipality of Cambuquira, which is a Brazilian municipality located in the southern region of the state of Minas Gerais, was delimited and its choice as a research locus is due to the fact that it is inserted in one of the most important hydromineral resorts in Brazil, presenting a specific institutional configuration around the use of water with the presence of state and nonstate public organizations, historical actions of the Public Ministry, non-governmental organizations, community associations, private organizations, among others. Initially, the approaches on social management and the categories of the Habermasian approach to social management were presented. Next, we discussed the concepts of public sphere and public spheres in Habermas presenting the moments of the public sphere category, as well as critical and reconstructive assessments of the public sphere in its moments - in addition to the recent advances in discussions on public sphere and social management. This work is guided by the following question: How was the argumentative structure formed around the different public, state and non-state, and private interests that seek legitimacy to sustain or influence decisions regarding water management in the municipality of Cambuquira, Minas Gerais? What are the discourses mobilized in the public spheres about mineral water? Thus, we used the Critical Discourse Analysis - ADC and, specifically, the ational meaning of the discourse. Starting from the premise that the senses and the discourses in the ADC are configured as actions historically constructed, we present the historical contextualization of the formation of the city of Cambuquira. After collecting and interpreting the data based on the ADC, the results chapter shows the dominant discourses around the different public interests, state or non-state, and private in relation to water management in the municipality of Cambuquira. Based on the collection and analysis of information and the use of information triangulation, different discourses about the mineral water in Cambuquira were found: health, common good, ore / commodity, natural heritage, cultural heritage and tourism product. These are discourses, therefore, are not only "words" but meanings and representations built around the mineral water that, to a lesser degree and greater degree has been present during the last 30 years. It is also observed that the discourse of the common good emerges, especially, through the ONG Nova Cambuquira and is institutionalized under the title Blue Community for Cambuquira. We also emphasize that in the "events" of the 2001 and 2006 bidding public notice the discourses focused on the notion of mineral water as a common good, cultural, natural heritage and health were opposed to the notion of mineral water as only ore/commodity, blocking the bidding public notice. So the civil society has influenced the proposals of the system in Habermasian terms.