Life path and mobility of farmworkers of Nucleus 4 of the Senator Nilo Coelho Project in Petrolina-PE / Trajetória de vida e mobilidade dos trabalhadores do Núcleo 4 do Projeto Senador Nilo Coelho, em Petrolina-PE

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2006

RESUMO

This study analyzes the transformations in the life of wage laborers in irrigated export agriculture of fresh fruit in Petrolina, Pernambuco, since their origins as small subsistence farmers in the semi-arid region. The focus is on intra and inter-generational processes of rural-urban migration and geographical and occupational mobility, as well as current labor relations and working conditions. Current conditions are viewed in the historical and social context and socioeconomic effects of a major irrigation colonization project of the 1980s, the Senator Nilo Coelho Irrigation Project, in particular, its effects on the life trajectories of these wage laborers, attracted by the promise of employment in fresh fruit production. The study selected as sample those wage laborers of a segment of this Project known as Nucleus 4 and analyzed the life trajectory of these laborers who were affected by the dual demographic processes of expulsion/attraction related to the modernization of relations of production in agriculture and incentives to export agriculture of fresh fruits and vegetables in the region. Results revealed the affirmation by these laborers of improvements in their living conditions, in comparison with their social origins. However, despite periodic inspection of working conditions by government officials, many aspects of these conditions are still less than satisfactory. Research further showed that although geographic and occupational mobility contributed to the social reproduction of their families across the three generations under study, the major impact was on those interviewed, the third generation of wage laborers, who decided to remain in the urban and surrounding area, thus breaking the previously recurring cycle of temporary rural-urban-rural migration. These laborers tend to undertake various activities which enable them to adapt to and remain in the urban setting. These findings tend to confirm recent research in Brazil which suggest that internal migrants are often those who resist conforming to labor relations of subordination and exploitation in the place of origin, and whose motivation to seek new opportunities contributes to obtaining improvements in living conditions, despite adversities encountered in the new locations

ASSUNTO(S)

ciencias sociais petrolina rural development projects social conditions mobilidade ocupacional trabalhadores rurais irrigation farming petrolina condições sociais agricultural laborers projetos de desenvolvimento rural irrigação agrícola mobility occupational

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