The north-center Brazilian agricultural frontier: regionalization, work mobility, modernization, land property and urban process

• Grant number: 11/50606-7
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: September 01, 2011
• End date: August 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Geography
• Principal Investigator: Vicente Eudes Lemos Alves
• Grantee: Vicente Eudes Lemos Alves
• Host Institution: Instituto de Geociências (IG). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The current research project proposes investigating the territorial dynamics in the Brazilian hinterland, with focus on the agricultural frontier in the north-center of the country. This recently created region is acquiring, in the last decades, a new socio-spatial dynamic which is originated from the growth of the modern agricultural production. In addition, it is also originated from the industry installation, commerce and diverse services. These changes demonstrate that the urban and rural areas assume new spatial, economic and demographic contents which result from the presence of modern farmers and hegemonic companies, as well as from a large group of impoverished workers looking for an employment. Besides this, in the last years it has been verified the presence of foreign agents (including national States representatives) interested in the acquisition of lands for agricultural production. These factors attribute to the agricultural frontier in the Brazilian north-center a significant diversity, bringing new challenges to its geographical analysis. The cause of the Brazilian settlement, from the coast to the country side, produced different spatial settings which has not yet been completed; some more Consolidated and some other still in creation. It is our special interest the last mentioned ones, which represent spatial transformation with intense dynamism. Our proposal, therefore, is to investigate the creation and current Brazilian agricultural frontier organization, specially related to the cerrados extension in the following Brazilian states: Bahia, Maranhão, Piauí and Tocantins (BAMAPITO). The main hypothesis of this project, based on the new area of capital interest, will allow us to configure a new regionalization of the Brazilian territory. (AU)