Catraieiros da Baía de Vitória - ES: fluxos e táticas de coexistência

Abstract

The dissertation presents an overview of socio-environmental conflicts produced in Baía de Vitória between the cities Vitória and Vila Velha (ES), since the acceleration of its urban development in nineteenth century. The historical readings confirm the industrial-portuary hegemony in city transformations, and its damage to the nearby environment. Associated with the historical path, the research experiences the everyday nautical crossings, to emphasize an specific group of catraieiros - boaters that transport people between the two cities -, and their tactical ability to coexist, among the international trading flows. Given the diversities that underlie the apprehension of this panorama, the research relies on theoretical approaches of political ecology and postcolonial anthropology, which does not dissociate society and environment, which calls debates instead of producing consensual answers, and multiplies dialogical relations regarding contemporary complexities. The participant observation method inspired by the urban ethnography studies focuses on social production of space, and allows the recognition of everyday citizens and its oral memories. These catraieiros ways of looking reveal other nuances of social inequalities in the race through the city, multiply physical and immaterial crossings between different worldviews, resignifies the city boundaries, and hybridize urban environment when it tends towards global standardization.