Fronteira agrícola na Amazônia contemporânea: Repensando o paradigma a partir da mobilidade da população de Santarém-PA

Abstract

Demographic processes in the Amazon are still explained by the dynamics of the agricultural frontier, which is a theoretical approach developed in the 1970s. This study considers population mobility in Santarém (PA) in order to assess the ability of the frontier model to represent the actual situation of the region. Santarém is a relevant case given the complexity of its rural aspect and the recent ascendency of agribusiness. The data are from the IBGE Demographic Census and from surveys conducted on 311 rural properties. The results highlight the importance of internal mobility in the municipality and reveal that the countryside is more stable and less affected by migration than the urban region. The small impact of rural exodus on the size of the rural population go against the classical assumptions concerning frontier regions. The attestation of certain types of mobility that are usually absent in the bibliographical sources reinforces that the frontier is diverse and its theoretical framework can explain rural transformations only partially. The concept of rural environment can only be satisfactorily redefined if intra-rural mobility and rural in-migration are added to the framework. Family relationships, the identification with the countryside and the dissolution of the rural-urban dichotomy lie at the foundation of these dynamics.