“Olhe, se você for pra feira eu garanto a você que nunca vai faltar um real no seu bolso”: novas disposições e mobilização de capitais de agricultores feirantes na construção e consolidação da Feira do Produtor no município de Areia-PB.

Abstract

The research aims to analyze a group of farmers who are also market vendors, associated with a marketing project for a popular market in the municipality of Areia, in the state of Paraíba, held every Friday morning since 2008, called the "Producers' Market." We observed the social dynamics involved in the creation and sustainability of the market, as well as the trajectories of the social agents involved in the initiative and their expectations regarding the marketing project. The project, which focuses on the commercialization of local production, is characterized by offering local products free of pesticides, in contrast to products sourced from CEASA and sold by vendors at the open market that takes place on Saturdays. We analyzed the process of organization and coordination among different social actors and public and private institutions, with an emphasis on characterizing the vendors and their business opportunities. The methodological approach was mixed, integrating qualitative and quantitative methods through the combination of various data collection techniques, such as bibliographic and documentary research, primary and secondary data collection, participant observation, interviews, and field notes. Furthermore, Bourdieu's concepts of social space and capital were essential to understanding how the agents compete for these spaces and how the possession or lack of certain capital influences their entry, permanence, or even exit from the market. The results showed that the creation of the market and the association of market farmers were not sufficient to consolidate the market as a collective project, as most farmers were unable to remain. Of the few who stayed, some acquired new dispositions, which, together with the capital accumulated throughout their individual trajectories, allowed them to build new capital around the "Producers' Market" project and even launch other marketing ventures. Thus, their participation in the market led to the reconstruction of subjectivities and the acquisition of new knowledge by the participants, bringing significant changes to the dynamics of their lives.