Impacts of the globalized economy on the environment: The tanning industry in the Vale do Rio dos Sinos

Abstract

This case study analysed the impact of the global economy on the environment of the Vale do Rio do Sinos region in southern Brazil. Interviews and questionnaires were used to collect data from social, cultural, economic and political agents in this region, and documents about the tanning industry were reviewed and analysed. Global perspectives and local conditions were brought together to understand the causes and consequences of social, political and economic structures and to evaluate the intrinsic association of the tanning industry with the social, historical and cultural development of the Vale do Rio dos Sinos. The behaviour of the local community, where individuals believe that progress is primordially based on industrial development and go to any lengths to achieve it, was also studied. The analysis of industries that have a high contamination potential revealed that dirty industries moved from central to peripheral countries up to the 1980s, but movement is currently internal and occurs between states in Brazil due to several types of incentives.