A experiência de Branquinha: um estudo das atividades produtivas da Associação das Produtoras Agroecológicas da Zona da Mata de Alagoas - APROAGRO, conforme os princípios da Economia de Comunhão EdC

Abstract

The objective of this thesis is to analyze the solidary productive practices carried out by the Associação das ProdutorasAgroecológicas da Zona da Mata de Alagoas – APROAGRO, based on the principles of the Economy of Communion (EoC). Based on socio-productive practices, the effectiveness of these dynamics will be taken into account. This is a women's association of the Zumbi dos Palmares settlement, at Branquinha/AL, whose family character is aimed at generating income for the residents of the settlement. The activities carried out are essentially agrarian, that is, directed towards family farming and artisanal activities. They aim to be managed and commercialized in a common way, according to the cooperative style of production. The Economy of Communion, through the Christian ethics of free and reciprocal sharing of material goods, is intended to give rise, in liberty, to a free division of part of the profits made by companies that adhere to this proposal.Intervening with the impoverished from the perspective of their socioeconomic inclusion is the goal to be achieved. It is a project that was launched at Brazil on May, 1991, by the Italian Chiara Lubich (1920-2008), founder of the Catholic Christian religious group called the Movimento dos Focolares(Focolare Movement). The approach will be a case study in the socioeconomic context of APROAGRO as an alternative to the model of capitalist hegemonic production. The main theoretical orientation was based on the perspective of Marcel Mauss's (1974) gift theorythrough which it was possible to discuss the theoretical foundations of the Economy of Communion and relating it the productive practices of the enterprise. When we inquired about the effectiveness and economic viability of the EoC, we assume that the economic development projects that were carried out in the association, under the aegis of the Economy of Communion, it generated socioeconomic improvements for the settlers. We find that hegemonic capitalism, which imposes itself on the global economic context, is not absolute, for there are other productive dynamics that oppose it, as in the productive practices of Branquinha's Experiences.