“Estamos aqui, existimos e iremos ficar”: associativismo e cooperativismo como estratégia de fortalecimento das resistências dos sujeitos no campo

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the associative and cooperative networks that constitute the peasantry organized in the form of family farming in the municipality of Apodi, Rio Grande do Norte. The research analyzes the instruments of resistance in the countryside, based on the fabric of these networks. The aim was to configure the composition of the associative and cooperative networks in the municipality, investigating the elements of resistance used by rural individuals in the face of the process of accumulation by dispossession. To this end, the use of agroecological strategies supported by a network of cooperation and association is considered. The study sought to outline the responses of peasant communities to the attacks of global capital, personified by agribusiness, with the support of the neoliberal State. The research effort focuses on revealing the strategies adopted by the peasantry to ensure their permanence in the territory, going beyond the mere reproduction of subsistence. The research is qualitative in nature, with fieldwork carried out between 2022 and 2023 in the following regions of the municipality of Apodi: Areia, Chapada, Pedra and Vale. In the collection of primary data, semi-structured interviews were conducted with three representatives of cooperatives that assist the communities investigated, as well as representatives of associations of family farmers and the Union of Rural Workers of Apodi - STTRA. The initial results of the investigative process reveal the need for State assistance for the maintenance and survival of associations and cooperatives, as well as the ongoing struggle for public policies that support rural workers. These findings reinforce the essential role of collective action and networked organization for the resistance and sustainability of peasant communities.