Relação de gênero e construção do território camponês: a organização das mulheres do Assentamento Padre Cleides, Santa Helena-PB.

Abstract

Agrarian Reform Settlements have been studied in several scientific areas. It is seen that the thematic about the peasant territories in which the relations of gender are considered, mainly in the “Sertão Paraibano” (hinterlands of Paraíba), gain a special tone by its originality. It is observed that, in the last 20 years, there has been the largest number of Settlement Projects (PAs) which have been characterized as of fundamental importance for the Agrarian Reform, in Brazil. Thus, the research presents a discussion from the theoretical-methodological point of view, addressing questions that the rural settlement process brings up, having as a study theme the "Gender Relations and Construction of the Peasant Territory: The Organization of Women in the Settlement Padre Cleides, Santa Helena - PB". Therefore, the main objective of the research is to know the gender formation and the participation of women in the organization of the peasant territory in the Project of Settlement (PA) Padre Cleides, in the city of Santa Helena - PB. Intermediate geographic region Sousa- Cajazeiras. Thus, the present research includes the territory, as a geographic category of analysis, considering the role of women in the struggle for the peasant territory. That way, the dialectical method contributes to the theoretical and empirical reflection, and thus, to the thinking of the dynamics and the contradictions of the territory, object of this geographic study. In Geography, the choice of methods and methodologies contributes to a greater clarity in the data collected in the research. So, it is characterized as an exploratory, documentary, bibliographic, field research. Hence, the present study used different qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches. During the collection of information, it was used procedures such as photographs and recordings that report and prove the speeches of the research subjects. For this research, it was used semi-structured interviewing techniques for data collection, followed by the treatment of the information that originated the maps, graphics and tables through the electronic spreadsheet of the Microsoft Office Excel 2003. The research population concerns 18 women over 21 years old and the sample is composed of 10 women who were willing to participate in the research, based on the terms presented by the Comité de Ética e Pesquisa (CEP). It was observed that in the struggle for land, the work is collective, performed by the whole family, which proves the effective participation of women in this conquest. It is confirmed the assumption of the relevance of peasant women in the construction and consolidation of peasant territory. Therefore, it is concluded that it is necessary to form women who are increasingly concerned about the recognition of the search for equal rights, for political, social, cultural and even scientific formation. In other words, women who develop skills to research, observe, understand, question and analyze their social realities. Thus, it is considered that in order to develop their protagonism, women need to be supported by public policies on equality that favor joint work that does not detract from the achievements already achieved.