Os Negros no agrário amazônico: diversidade histórica e contemporânea do campesinato paraense

Abstract

The thesis investigates the intrinsic relationship between the Black population and the agrarian space of the Paraense Amazon, analyzing the historical formation and structural diversity of the Black peasantry. The research demonstrates that the construction of Black race in Brazil, rooted in colonization and the capitalist system, established a pattern of exploitation that has perpetuated in the agrarian sector. The analysis recovers the historical centrality of the Black population in the Amazonian agrarian structure, marked by resistance to slavery, such as the formation of quilombos, and the pursuit of autonomy through peasant labor after abolition. The investigation details the diversity of the peasantry in the Amazon, identifying different historical forms of organization and their specific economic logics, centered on family reproduction needs. The thesis uses census data (2017 and 2022) to evidence the growing demographic relevance of the Black population in Pará, including the rural space, and their numerical predominance as producers in various forms of peasantry. However, the research also points to the persistence of racial inequalities in land access, with a concentration of larger areas under the control of white producers. The in-depth analysis of the prevalent historical peasant forms in Pará (CbO, CbF, and ReC) reveals that the Black population is the majority in the number of establishments in all of them, confirming the historical constitution of a Black peasantry in the most traditional forms of the Amazonian peasant economy. The thesis concludes that Blackness is a substantial and central element in the contemporary Amazonian agrarian sector, and the results reinforce the urgency of considering the racial dimension in the formulation of public policies for sustainable rural development in the Amazon, aiming at overcoming historical inequalities and promoting equity in access to resources and opportunities for the Black peasantry.