A pluriatividade pós-catástrofe em Nova Friburgo/RJ: estudo do distrito de Campo do Coelho

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to discuss the increase in pluriactivity in the district of Campo do Coelho, in Nova Friburgo-RJ, following the climate disaster of the January 2011 rains. The tragedy acts as a catalyst for pluriactive activities in the region, adding to factors such as the rising cost of inputs and the lack of labor, thus creating a scenario of agricultural crisis. The study focused on strawberry cultivation as the main example of initiatives linked to the pluriactivity of small farmers with the production, processing and direct sale of this fruit to meet an emerging metropolitan demand. In order to analyze pluriactivity, the research conducts a bibliographical survey on the subject in Brazil and other parts of the world, seeking to understand this phenomenon within the debate on spatial interactions, which in this case would be produced by the interaction between rural and urban areas. A historiographical survey examines the socio-spatial formation of Nova Friburgo, established by European immigrants as the result of a eugenicist project. Furthermore, this immigration continues to reflect in the type of tourism practiced in the municipality. Since the beginning of the 20th century, this sector has been oriented towards a business model associated with the "myth of Brazilian Switzerland", promoting tourism based on the simulacrum of a small Europe, at an accessible distance from the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro. The results of this research indicate that the growth of strawberry cultivation in the district of Campo do Coelho is an example of the increase in pluriactive properties, favored by the increase in metropolitan tourism which valorizes material and symbolic aspects linked to the countryside. However, the appropriation of the strawberry by urban groups is evident, mainly benefiting the hotel and commercial sector in Nova Friburgo's main district, which gains a new attraction without being directly involved in its development. Therefore, it is another product that fits into the search for elements that help to characterize Nova Friburgo in a Eurocentric way, which is still very strong in the local hegemonic ideology.