Turismo solidário, capital social e desenvolvimento no município do Serro - Minas Gerais

Abstract

The town of Serro is the locus of issues and reflections brought up in this research. This complex, heterogeneous and multiple territory is the result of its geographical and historical context that began with the discovery of gold, in the early 18th century. Since the first prospecting incursions, this region has financed one of the most important economic and social cycles in Minas Gerais, and in Brazil, with its resources. The impact of this history: three centuries of mining were not enough to guarantee the regions prosperity and, today, a large portion of the population lacks other sources of income besides subsistence agriculture and the governments financial support. Nowadays, thanks to its relatively intact cultural and historic heritage, as well as its natural attributes and landscape (it is located in the southern part of Espinhaço mountain range) Serro is a stage for policy initiatives, programs and projects that aim, above all, to recover the towns economy. In this context, citing tourism as a privileged field to promote development became somewhat commonplace, mainly in recent years. Less frequently, however, has there been actual reflection on why tourism is seen in this light. Similarly, few are the analyses of public policies that do not focus on the economy. Therefore, this thesis aims to articulate past and present, focusing on the Solidarity Tourism Program (PTS) a Minas Gerais State Government public initiative created in 2003, under the Extraordinary Department for the Development of the Valleys of Jequitinhonha, Mucuri, and Northern Minas Gerais. By presenting the perspective of the State and highlighting the theoretical premises that supported this policy, the reasons behind its successes and failures are better understood. The central hypothesis of this thesis is that the success of this initiative would require, necessarily, cooperation, i.e., a coordinated action plan among those involved in the Program. Hence, the need to understand how the families that chose to join the Program articulated and organized themselves and, at the same time, investigate the way the locals conducted touristic activities during the Program: in an atomized or integrated manner? The concepts of social media and social media analysis, as discussed by Granovetter (1973; 1985), Burt (1992; 2001) and Lin (1999; 2001), were used to explain the connection between social capital and the phenomenon of the collective action studied here. In conclusion, it is worth pointing out some findings: 1) The PTS, in its conception, was regarded as a possible tool to promote development. In actuality, however, the policy reduced tourism to its capacity of providing employment and income to the locals; 2) despite having solidarity as a principle, the Programs effect, in reality, was exactly the opposite: competition; 3) the social relations gained noticeable importance in shaping the solidarity tourism network; 4) the absence of effective participation of the population in the conception and formulation of the policy resulted in weak mobilization and articulation of the communities; and 5) there was permanent tension between oversight, a reflection of the explicit dependence on external factors, and the necessary autonomy and emancipation of the communities involved in the initiative. These findings support the need to stimulate a strong capacity for local action in the face of impositions coming from the outside that are, to this day, great obstacles to the development of the communities involved.