"O horário quem diz é a cachaça”: o trabalho e os(as) trabalhadores(as) na agroindústria da cachaça de alambique no brejo paraibano

Abstract

This study aims to understand the work and workers in the artisanal cachaça industry, connecting their personal trajectories with the socioeconomic history of the brejo region in Paraíba. Sugarcane plays a significant role in the economic and social formation of Brazil, particularly in the Northeast. In the brejo of Paraíba, although situated on the periphery of the plantation areas of the Zona da Mata, the sugarcane activity has manifested in various ways: culturally, socially, economically, and in labor relations. With the closure of sugar and alcohol mills in the early 1990s, the region faced an economic void. In response, local actors mobilized their resources to create economic alternatives, leading to the rise of rural tourism and artisanal cachaça production. These activities, along with other local initiatives, allow elites to maintain and strengthen their capital while providing workers with job opportunities and income to support their families. Cachaça distilleries in the brejo vary in type and size, but the production process is essentially the same: it includes planting, cultivating, and harvesting sugarcane, followed by the transport of raw material for production, which involves milling, fermentation, distillation, storage, and bottling. Additionally, cachaça production and rural tourism are interconnected, allowing for the offering of tourist services such as restaurants and guided tours of the production process. We conducted field observations and spoke with numerous local actors, visiting eleven distilleries and conducting five interviews with workers from one distillery in the region. Through these interviews, we were able to relate the personal stories of our interlocutors to the social history of the sugarcane industry in the region. The memories and life trajectories of our interviewees reveal the experiences of many Northeastern families over recent decades. Despite differences and challenges, these social agents continually strive for better living conditions for themselves and their families in a historically unfavorable context.