When territory shapes the State

state capacities and territorial governance in a municipality in the Brazilian Amazon

Abstract

São Félix do Xingu (Pará State, Brazil), one of the largest municipalities in the country in terms of territorial extent, presents a complex land tenure configuration characterized by the coexistence of indigenous lands, protected areas, federal agrarian settlements, private properties, and undesignated public forests. Against this backdrop, this article examines how land tenure arrangements and the territorial dimension condition the production and exercise of state capacities in municipalities within the Brazilian Legal Amazon, taking São Félix do Xingu as a revelatory case study. Drawing on the literature on state capacities and on Claude Raffestin’s relational perspective of territory, the study understands land tenure configuration as a material expression of territorial power relations and investigates how these relations shape the possibilities for coordination, planning, and the exercise of public authority. Methodologically, the research combines semi-structured interviews with strategic actors involved in the production and regulation of territory and spatial analysis of the municipality’s territorial configuration. The findings show that land tenure issues are not merely objects of state intervention but also are embedded in the very conditions through which governmental action is produced and exercised. By demonstrating how the territorial dimension shapes the concrete conditions of public action, the study contributes to debates on state capacities beyond approaches centered exclusively on administrative or institutional attributes. Finally, the results highlight the importance of further investigating how different territorial configurations may produce distinct forms of state action.