CAATINGUEIRO PEASANT: REFLEXIONS ABOUT OF THE PEASANTRY IN THE BRAZILIAN SEMI-ARID

Abstract

With this article we propose a reflection on the peasant caatingueiro in its geographical dimension. This approach is based on the cultural, political, economic and social aspects, in order to provide elements that characterize and differentiate the peasant caatingueiro described the backcountry or appointed by the classical literature (Cunha, 1991) and by contemporary authors, as is the case of Brandão (2009). Along the historical process approaches to the Sertão and the backwoodsmen were characterized by a homogeneous political and cultural discourses and supported by public policies that deal with farmers from different regions of Brazil as if it existed only in a single-dividuum backcountry, similar the figure of “Jeca Tatu” described by Monteiro Lobato. It seeks, from the relationship between theory and empiricism, seeking to go beyond the a priori, showing that the social subject area produces and is produced by him. Their values, socio-cultural practices and worldviews exert a strong influence on their form of social organization and their relationship with their place of living, in this case, the semi-arid. The development projects designed for the fraction of the country are guided by the contradiction delay versus modernity, or dry versus water availability as foundational elements to justify policies of regional development / planning.