Experimental biofuel governance: Historicizing social certification in Brazilian ethanol production

In this paper, I trace the conditions that enabled this certificate to emerge and then fail as a state-sanctioned instrument for governing social justice in the Brazilian ethanol industry. I contend that understanding the emergence of neoliberal governance schemes requires analysis of the historical relationships that intersect with new geopolitical formations. In this case, the state engaged in an experimental form of governance in attempts to export a social certificate alongside technology transfers. This led to the conversion of rights into privileges with no official means for punishing non-complying companies, causing the certificate to lack efficacy and fail. I argue this by connecting the intersecting histories of labor unions, the ethanol industry, and the state to the contemporary factors that led to the need for a mechanism to attest to social sustainability.