Redes sociais, imigração e cultura: árabes e descendentes na economia da fronteira Ponta Porã (BR)/Pedro Juan Caballero (PY)

Abstract

Since the 1990s, scholars have demanded the need for an interdisciplinary approach in understanding phenomena considered to be properly economic. The migratory displacements, in turn, point out as an interesting experience for the analysis of the relationship between culture and economy. The relational character of economic transactions is increasingly recognized. This article, in turn, intends to apply the idea of social networks in order to understand the presence and performance of the population of Arab origin (immigrants and descendants) in certain economic activities on the border between Ponta Porã, Brazil, and Pedro Juan Caballero, city located in Paraguay. Therefore, some reflections on aspects that may have determined the arrival and expansion of the Arabs to the above-mentioned border are undertaken. Through the delimitation of certain family trajectories, built from interviews, the intention is to demonstrate the importance of social networks in the construction of the latter. In conclusion, we show that the Arab immigration movement and its socioeconomic insertion are influenced by the actions of their respective networks. Furthermore, social capital, expressed by relationships of trust, cooperation, and commercial skills, is based on its cultural principles and presents itself as a social factor in economic relations, being a significant factor in the process of social and economic formation in the region.