Processar para gerir:um debate sobre constrangimentos à crítica social por meio de instrumentos do Sistema de Justiça no Brasil

Abstract

This article examines the use of legal instruments by large mining companies operating in Brazil as part of corporate strategies aimed at managing social contestation surrounding their projects. It starts from the recognition that mining contexts are marked by recurring situations of violence that particularly affect human rights defenders engaged in denouncing the socio-environmental harms associated with mineral extraction, processing, and logistics activities.The study adopts a spatialization of law perspective, taking territories as its central analytical category, and is grounded in qualitative methods, particularly literature review and document analysis. The findings reveal patterns of judicialization aimed at constraining and delegitimizing social criticism. To this end, companies mobilize legal challenges concerning the political activities of community leaders and organized communities, as well as the possession and ownership of their territories, while also seeking to impose restrictions on access to collectively used areas. The study further identifies the use of judicial and administrative measures designed to limit the participation of these actors in environmental licensing processes. The conclusions highlight the need to strengthen mechanisms for mapping, monitoring, and confronting such practices in order to enhance the institutional protection of environmental defenders and ensure more effective conditions for the exercise of human rights in mining-affected territories.