Using the capability approach to analyze contemporary environmental governance challenges in coastal Brazil

Conservation and development are often framed as a dichotomy, requiring trade-offs. But trade-offs can be due to the particular political situation and to relationships of domination, and are not necessarily the inevitable result of an intractable situation. Environmental governance in Brazil is in transition, with growing tension between those who seek a social-environmental approach and those who are strictly concerned with preservation. This article applies the capability approach framework to analyze the human development situation in Trindade, Brazil, by answering key questions that are central to this approach (1) What kind of lives are people able to live? Are they able to be or do what they have reason to value? and (2) What is the quality of economic, social and political relations in Trindade? Three main `shocks' emerge as having major impacts on the way of life of community members: (a) Conflict with external commercial developers, (b) Paving of access road into community, and (c) Enforcement of a Federal Protected Area on historical community land and sea space. Capability priorities were established for women, men, older adults and people with disabilities. The impacts of development and conservation policies are different for the four groups, as are the priorities for capabilities. There is no single capability that is found in the top three priorities across the four groups. The case in Trindade demonstrates that space for public participation is not sufficient to ensure that the people who are trying to improve their wellbeing and be the author of their own lives can influence the outcome, and also shows that regular contact and connection does not necessarily create empathy, as Sen assumed in The Idea of Justice.