RESUMO Tendo a referência do debate institucionalista, o artigo discute arranjos institucionais na Amazônia considerando a diversidade estrutural que caracteriza o setor rural na Região. A partir dos diferentes padrões de relações entre trajetórias tecnológicas, estabelece duas grandes configurações representativas das condiçõesde desenvolvimento: i) das economias rurais baseadas em pecuária e agricultura e ii) das economias baseadas em sistemas agroflorestais. Comparando os resultados dos censos agropecuários de 1995 e 2006, o artigo demonstra, para cada caso, as mudanças estruturais ocorridas no período e analisa os ritmos, fundamentos e impactos do crescimento. Especial atenção é dada às bases institucionais dos processos. Como resultado se apresentam dois grandes arranjos institucionais, um que tem no "mercado de terras", outro que tem nas regras de acesso a recursos comuns de biomas e ecossistemas, respectivamente, seu fundamento central. Mecanismos institucionais formais funcionam, em cada território, em interação com essas instituições informais, caracterizando a governança territorial prevalecente. Uma implicação prática indicada, à guisa de conclusão, é a de que políticas para um desenvolvimento com atributo de sustentabilidade devem considerar seriamente essas distinções.

ABSTRACT Referring to the Institutionalist debate in economics, the article discusses institutional arrangements in the Amazon taking into accountthe structural diversity that characterizes the rural sector in the region. Based onthe different patterns of relationships between technological trajectories, two large representative configurations of development conditions are established: i) rural economies based on agriculture and livestock, and ii) economies based on agroforestry systems. Comparing the results of agricultural censuses of 1995 and 2006 one finds, for each case, structural changes in the period and speed, fundamentals and impacts of growth are analyzed. Special attention is given to the institutional foundations of the processes. As a result, two large institutional arrangements are presented, one that has the "land market", and another that has the rules of access to common resources of biomes and ecosystems as its core foundation. Formal institutional mechanisms operate in each territory and interact with these informal institutions, and that characterizes the prevailing territorial governance. As a conclusion, it is found that a practical implication of it is that development policies based on sustainability should seriously consider these distinctions.

Answers to a marxist critic of the rhetorical and pragmatic perspectives in economics. Based on recent discussions regarding the rhetorical perspective in economics, this paper presents an interpretation of the philosophical approach of Habermas which attempts to rescue the so called 'modern spirit', forgotten in the annals of the 19th century, similar to that presented by Marshall Berman in 1982. Following the reconstructive approach of Habermas's project of modernity, we attempt to show how a 'rhetorical approach' could be applied in the field of economics, and yet still be clearly modern by taking into account intersubjectivities, given the expanded sphere of human communication (as defended in the theory of communicative action of Habermas). In this sense, we will seek to demonstrate the philosophical limits of the anti-rhetorical critiques of, for example, Paulani (1996, 2003, 2005, 2006), which seem to underestimate the linguistic and intersubjective aspect of Habermas's philosophical project that can also be found in McCloskey’s methodological approach.

Partindo do debate atual sobre retórica em economia, o trabalho tem por objetivo trazer elementos da corrente filosófica do pragmatismo para a discussão metodológica entre economistas, particularmente no que diz respeito à teoria da verdade e suas implicações epistemológicas. Após apresentar as contribuições dos pioneiros da filosofia pragmatista, William James, John Dewey e Charles Sanders Peirce, e discutir aspectos da obra de Willard Quine e Richard Rorty, procura identificar influências dessa corrente filosófica em importantes economistas tais como John M. Keynes, Milton Friedman e Thorstein Veblen. Por fim conclui com algumas reflexões possivelmente úteis para a prática da ciência econômica.

This paper brings elements from the pragmatic philosophy to the debate on methodology in economics, with a specific concern on the theory of truth and its connection with epistemology. After briefly discussing the contributions of William James, John Dewey, Charles Sanders Peirce and the works of Willard Quine and Richard Rorty in this area, we point out to some of the influences that this school of thought may have had on the work of important economists such as John M. Keynes, Milton Friedman and Thorstein Veblen. We then conclude with some reflections that may be useful for research made by economists.