Desterritorialização/reterritorialização de comunidades rurais atingidas pelas obras do Projeto de Integração do Rio São Francisco: o caso da Vila Produtiva Rural Cacaré, São José de Piranhas - PB.

Abstract

In recent decades, especially since 1980, the Brazilian rural space has registered the restructuring of the productive sector, which has triggered a new economic, political and social organization of the agricultural space. This reorganization of the field was marked by the implementation of new technologies based on the insertion of foreign capital. In this context, the scenario of struggles and conflicts between the landowning bourgeoisie, concerned with increasing production to meet the demands of agribusiness, and small rural producers, with a view to subsistence production, intensified. As a result, there was a worsening of land concentration and the permanence of precarious work situations, especially for farmers who lived on the lands of third parties, under the condition of sharecropper or tenant. Despite the numerous challenges faced over time, many peasants have not given up their territory of life and work, as is the case of the rural communities of São José de Piranhas – PB. For these communities, family farming is configured as a way of externalizing their territorialities. However, the development of agriculture in the Northeast region is hampered by natural conditions. In this way, based on the developmentalist discourse of promoting better living conditions for the population through access to water, the São Francisco River Integration Project (PISF) emerged, a project capable of solving the problem of drought rooted in the Brazilian semi-arid region. As with any water infrastructure project, the PISF left different marks, redefining territories and provoking new socio-spatial dynamics. In territorial terms, the municipality of São José de Piranhas – PB, located on the northern axis, had the highest percentage of expropriation of the entire course of the project's works. In view of this, this research has as its general objective to analyze the impacts caused by the process of deterritorialization and reterritorialization of rural communities affected by the PISF works, especially the families currently living in the Cacaré Rural Productive Village, São José de Piranhas – PB. To this end, the qualitative-quantitative methodology was adopted, through a sample survey directed to the residents of the VPR and applied in the form of a semi-structured interview. The information collected in secondary and primary data was essential for the construction and strengthening of the theoretical foundation. The results showed that the processes of deterritorialization and reterritorialization were extremely challenging for the residents of the VPR Caçaré. In addition to the difficulties inherent in leaving their territory of origin, the families also had to face the lack of water. It was also verified some controversies that are not in line with the objectives set for the project. Such counterpoints support the hypothesis that the PISF is not an isolated policy that is averse to the interests of agribusiness, but rather moves towards capital, leaving aside non-capitalist relations, especially those related to the ways of life of the rural population.