Conceição Maculada: história, memória e identidade em trânsito nas experiências migratórias (1982-2010).

Abstract

This monograph investigates the migratory dynamics from Conceição, Paraíba, to Southeast Brazil, between 1980 and 2010. The study explores the socioeconomic, political and climatic motivations that drove these displacements, the community support networks that sustained migrants during the process of displacement and adaptation in distant regions, the duality between the search for better living conditions and economic pressures, and how migrants' memories and identities were preserved or modified over time and distance. With this premise, we draw on the reflections of authors such as Maurice Halbwachs (2006) and José de D' Assunção Barros (2011), to understand the concepts of collective memory; Paul Singer (1976), to understand the concept of solidarity economy; and Lúcia de Almeida Neves Delgado (2017) to understand Oral History. Using Oral History as the central methodology, the research analyzes interviews with migrants from Conceição, revealing how family and community support networks were fundamental in facilitating adaptation to new contexts. Thus, migrations from Conceição reflect a complex duality between the search for better living conditions and economic pressure, showing that the migratory phenomenon is, at the same time, a strategy for survival and personal fulfillment. The results point to the preservation of affective and cultural ties with the homeland, even after years of separation, and demonstrate that migrations shaped new identities, while perpetuating memories and belongings.