The performance of subnational units in an international cooperative context: the case of Minas Gerais and the Jaíba Project

O caso de Minas Gerais e o Projeto Jaíba

Abstract

In recent years, subnational units and other international actors, such as civil society, NGOs, multilateral agencies, movements and political parties, have increased their participation at the international level, due to the growth of interdependence between domestic and international spheres. Therefore, this article analyzes the Jaíba Project, which consists of a partnership between the State of Minas Gerais and the Japanese organization JICA, questioning the applicability of Bredemeier's Theory of Exchange (1980), as a theoretical analysis apparatus for a different context in which it was prepared. To this end, the article discussed the cooperation carried out by the subnational units in relation to the union; talks about the main characteristics of exchange theory; analyzes the decentralized cooperation process established by the Jaíba Project itself; and applies Bredemeier's (1980) theory to this process. That said, the methodology chosen was bibliographic analysis, to corroborate the hypothesis that the performance of the subnational governments present in the Jaíba Project, establishes a decentralized international cooperation, which has the market and collaborative format, concepts developed in the work of Bredemeier (1980) , and that subnational units play the role of international actors.