O sistema socioecológico do Jalapão e os dilemas para o desenvolvimento regional: transformações, capacidade adaptativa e resiliência comunitária

Abstract

This thesis aims to understand the dilemmas affecting the Socioecological System of Jalapão in Tocantins, Brazil, contemplating environmental and community variables concerning the development of its regional space. The research methods were based on the search for an understanding how the development process is structured in a complex way in the studied region. In the thesis, Jalapão, a geographic construction, is (trans)formed in a predominantly ecological region with innumerable challenges due to the (dis)continuities of development projects implemented or, still, due to the vulnerabilities that mark environmental, socioeconomic and cultural aspects of the livelihoods of the Jalapoeiro people. The main results of the research demonstrate that historical events coupled with the transformations occurred in Jalapão allowed to identify three disturbances that affected the ecological region: the creation of the conservation units, the tourist activity and the agribusiness. Simultaneously, these disorders lead to understand the multiple relationships that the Jalapoeiro people had to adapt to the use and control of the land, either through the connection with nature and their sense of belonging to the place, or through the community and social reproduction relationship of families in the new local economic dynamics. It observed that, for the local actors, the conditioning factors that demonstrate the vulnerabilities are also perceived as determining factors and presented as instruments of development, that is, they result in dilemmas regarding the studied region. The capacity of the Socioecological System to endure and absorb these shocks has shown that social change is a relevant characteristic for community resilience and, therefore, needs to be considered in the whole system. Bearing in mind the uncertainties and risks that permeate the Jalapoeiro people, the study also contributes to thinking about development alternatives in regions where the social organization of local actors becomes an alternative to strengthen the community's resilience and face the dilemmas that affect regions considered ecological.