LabEx DRIIHM Dispositif de Recherche Interdisciplinaire sur les Interactions Hommes-Milieux CNRS - Observatoires Hommes-Milieux - Investissements d'avenir Projet de recherche Building bridges: Conviviality after the inauguration of the Oyapock River Bridge Session 2017 Project type Projet OHM OHM(s) involved OHM Oyapock Keywords Brazil French Guiana Oyapock River Bridge Ethnography Anthropologie, Sociologie The inauguration of the Oyapock River Bridge has been delayed several times for a variety of reasons. Now that the final constructions on the Brazilian side are underway, the opening is expected to take place in the course of the year 2017. Yet what happens once the bridge opens? While most politicians have high hopes for regional cooperation, the majority of the local residents are more skeptical, worrying about unequal rights to border crossings (with Brazilians being disadvantaged) and the loss of jobs (particularly those related with fluvial transportation). The proposed project aims to go beyond these speculations by studying the immediate aftermath of the inauguration of the Oyapock River Bridge. How will the opening of the bridge impact on the everyday life of the people living in Saint-Georges, Oiapoque and the larger region? From an ethnographic perspective, this project will supplement research already carried out both by OHM Oyapock researchers and by the author himself. Leader Fabio Santos Fabio Santos is a PhD Researcher at the International Training Group "Between Spaces" (Freie Universität Berlin). He holds an M.A. in Sociology from Freie Universität Berlin and a B.A. in European Ethnology and Cultural History and Theory from Humboldt-Universität Berlin. His areas of interest are postcolonial studies, the sociology of space, ethnographic methods, and questions of conviviality..