Territorial dynamics of development: the case of Serra Catarinense

• Grant number: 10/14726-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2011
• End date: February 29, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: LUIZ CARLOS BEDUSCHI FILHO
• Grantee: Mikael Oliveira Linder
• Host Institution: Instituto de Eletrotécnica e Energia (IEE). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research project analizes the development dinamics of the Sierra Santa Catarina, a rural region located in the mountain plateau of Santa Catarina, comprised of eighteen counties that are home to numerous natural and cultural latent resources. It is a region with high levels of social capital, although it the institutional environment seems to be very conflictive and with few collective actions. Recently, Serra Catarinense became the target of actions by federal and state governments, whose objectives were to facilitate collective action that would lead to the valorization of the territorial resources, or better, their transformation into territoral actives. However, evidence shows that efforts have not achieved the desired result. Therefore remains a question that will guide this research: what are the constraints in Serra Catarinense explaining the difficulty of collective mobilization of its actors to resolve conflicts and transform their resources into territorial actives? Trying to answer the question, this project intends to, with the support of the New Economic Sociology, the Network Analysis and the researches on territorial resources, collect evidences to understand the local dynamics and their effects on collective actions aimed to the valorization of the territorial resources, indicating, the extent possible, alternatives to improve the efficiency of the institutional apparatus implemented by federal and state governments.