O trabalho das marisqueiras e suas implicações no desenvolvimento local no município de São José de Ribamar- MA

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the implications of the work of shellfish gatherers for local development in the municipality of São José de Ribamar. It contextualizes the world of work and gender relations to understand the social conditions and social vulnerability in which they are inserted. It identifies the forms of socioeconomic production of seafood for local development, analyzing the sexual division of labor within the artisanal fishing community and profiling these women. To guide this analysis, the dialectical historical materialism method was used as a theoretical and methodological basis, in order to understand the contradictions existing in the categories surrounding this study, as well as their historical and material determinations. To this end, qualitative and quantitative research was chosen to critically analyze the particularities of the living conditions of the shellfisherwomen in their socio-spatial context. We used as auxiliary techniques participant observation, semi-structured interviews, bibliographic and documentary research in primary and secondary official sources, with statistical data. The field research was aided by field diary entries of oral histories, photographic records, and audio recordings. The result of this research showed that the work of shellfish gatherers is possible to contribute to local development and income generation, however, there are many difficulties that need to be overcome. It was found that it is necessary to strengthen the social and political organization of shellfish gatherers, as well as gender public policies that respond to their real needs. Government programs and the seafood processing plant, projects considered as local development by public administrators, also require more expansion and dissemination, as well as acceptance by the community. On the other hand, the paradigms of the sexual division of labor legitimize the precarious conditions that still exist among shellfish gatherers, prevailing in situations of inequality and invisibility of their work.