Social Resistance in the Arid Caatinga: The Narrative of those who Remained in the Environmental Collapse

Abstract

The analyzed region is historically a place of conflict and a ‘founding violence’, situated above São Francisco River, between the cities of Ibimirim and Cabrobó (Pernambuco/Brazil). The presence of those conflicts, associated with the environmental collapse, caused by the new local extractiv and arid climate, are strong evidence to act on population dynamics. However, the opposite is observed in the region. The maintenance of population there is supported by the low value of emigration and by narratives. Therefore, environmental and social variables were collected and analyzed to assess whether a social resistance motivates the lack of population dynamics. The objective of this study was to analyze the environmental context and the narratives of who remained in collapse of raw material in Arid Caatinga post the new extractivism. Where one might note that the maintenance of the population in the region is an expression of local social resistance, on the interface between the analyzed environmental and social parameters. The preservation of family heritage (patrimonialism) was considered the main highlight in the narratives of ‘sertanejos’.