In this thesis, we analyze the main models of economic development proposed for the Brazilian Amazon, which had the territorial management policies as central elements. The objective of the study was to identify ruptures and continuities among these models. Initially, we expose the theoretical and methodological references of the analysis, from which the uneven geographical development theory stands out. From the listed references, we analyzed the bases of the developmental plans proposed in Brazil since the 1970s, that is, the theories of regional development, the idea of competitive insertion of countries and the idea of sustainable development. After that, with the Brazilian Amazon as empirical reference, we then explain how these elements materialize in the proposed plans and programs, which are successively centered on growth poles growth poles, national axes of integration and development, and ecologic-economic zoning. We then analyze the application of these plans since the 1980s in a more specific area, called Açailândia–São Luís corridor, in the state of Maranhão. According to what we were able to determine, contrary to the official discourses, we affirm that the poles, axes and zonings present more elements in common than the ruptures. At the same time, we find that notion of sustainable development and zonings are followed by contradictions, which are materialized in laws and the creation of conservation units, infrastructure for large projects, and demarcation of indigenous lands and traditional communities‟ lands. These contradictions favor the emergence of conflicts and the development of new standards for development and land use. More importantly, it also stimulates practices and struggles of organized groups of the society that go against the dynamics of capitalist production of space, which was the essence of the three models of development we analyzed.
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