The objective of this chapter is to describe the ways in which traditional (ribeirinho) and Indigenous (Cocama) farmers of Central Amazonia are modifying their agricultural and livelihood practices in response to extreme flood events, linked to global climate change, which have occurred over the last ten years. Data were gathered through observation and semi-structured interviews conducted by researchers and technicians of the Mamirauá Institute for Sustainable Development, Brazil. Farmers from upland and floodplain environments agree that large floods are more frequent in the region. Extreme floods have resulted in the disappearance of farmers’ local varieties of manioc and diverse fruit species. Residents also discuss the social consequences of floods, including cyclical migration of families between upland and lowland areas and a deteriorating quality of community life during floods. While our initial results demonstrate farmers’ abilities to adapt in the face of rapid global change, we continue to try to understand the processes of ongoing social, economic and environmental change and the extent and limits of local adaptive capacity.

The chapter focuses on the links between Brazil’s capitalist development model and the structural origins of the country´s environmental inequalities. It addresses the history of capitalism’s territoriality and the contradictory process of environmentalization of the Brazilian state. The author offers a framework for understanding the ways by which the environment became a materially and symbolically disputed terrain and identifies the particular challenges faced by activists fighting for environmental justice. Theoretical material is presented to interpret historical and current development strategies with their different kinds of environmental conflicts, some engendered under authoritarian developmentalism and others stemming from neoliberal environmental deregulation and flexibilization of environmental standards. Finally, the author discusses the democratic system’s crisis and its implications for research and the struggle against environmental inequalities in Brazil.