At the roots of debt: agroextractivist dynamics in the Middle

Author(s)

Bruno Campelo Pereira

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas
• Defense date: 2024-11-28

Examining board members

Artionka Manuela Góes Capiberibe; Magda dos Santos Ribeiro; Mauro William Barbosa de Almeida

• Advisor: Artionka Manuela Góes Capiberibe

Abstract

This study analyzes the agroextractivist practices of the Roque community, located in the Middle Juruá Extractive Reserve, a protected area in the southwestern state of Amazonas, Brazil. Originally part of the Pupunha rubber estate and inhabited by northeastern migrants during the so-called Rubber Booms, the region underwent significant political changes in the late 1980s, driven by the rubber tappers’ movement in alliance with sectors of the Catholic Church. The research focuses on Roque’s agroextractivist production, particularly the cultivation of cassava and the extraction of seeds to produce cassava flour and vegetable oils. Through an ethnographic approach, the study describes production techniques as well as the dynamics of exchange and commercialization of these products, highlighting their contrasts and specificities. The focus is on the debt relationships that permeate these activities, aiming to understand the persistence of debt as a structuring mechanism of local economic relations. The objective is to investigate how economic understandings are constructed within the community, revealing the complexities of economic relations in Brazilian Amazon (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 21/06060-1 - Seed roads and exchange routes: plant life and collection practices in the Middle Juruá (AM)
• Grantee: Bruno Campelo Pereira
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master