Agrarian space dynamic in the Vale do Jequitinhonha mineiro (Brazil): combinations and conflicts

Abstract

The following text is the result of the debate experienced in the discipline ‘’Dinâmica do espaço Agŕario: combinações e conflitos’’ (Agrarian space dynamic: combinations and conflicts), ministered in the post graduation program in geography at the State University of Montes Claros, Brazil. The idea of inserting a perspective of uneven and combined development in the program found support in the problematizations of the masters and doctoral students. Thereby, the objective of this article is to unveil the uneven and combined as a category of analysis of the Vale do Jequitinhonha (Jequitinhonha valley), through the reflections about the subjects that compound the continuum of society and space relations which is at the same time a peculiarity and reflection of multiple determinations. The aforementioned text is the result of a journey that included a thorough literature review and fieldwork involving semi-structured interviews in traditional communities affected by large-scale mining projects in the Jequitinhonha Valley in the state of Minas Gerais. A subtle and conflicted engendering that expresses with potency the dynamic of this regional group forged by a context of ‘’drought’’ to attend to the movement of verticalities – big development projects – that is imposed as determination, combined to co-opt and paradoxically create resistance and resignifications of the ‘’below’’ through horizontalities – social reproduction rural artisan. It’s worth highlighting that, as an geographic contribution to the analysis we brought the perspective of the socio spatial formation of Santos (2017 [1977]) which the understanding of these same processes can be attributed to the interconnections between the social formations and the production modes, as a dynamic and contradictory movement in the transformation of the Vale do Jequitinhonha mineiro (Jequitinhonha Valley mineiro).