Migrant sugarcane cutters in Paraná: daily practices and processes of territorialization in the context of precarious work

Abstract

Starting from the perspective of Michel de Certeau in the study of daily life, the study seeks to understand how are the daily practices of territorialization of the ordinary man, represented by sugarcane workers from the Brazilian state of Alagoas, who migrate to work in precarious conditions in plantations in the state of Paraná. The research adopted the Life History method for data collection, conducting interviews with seven migrant workers. The analysis was based on the narratives of the interviewees, and through an analytical cut that sought to understand the historical context of life of the subjects, connecting the data collected to the theoretical framework in order to apprehend their daily actions of territorialization. The analysis allowed identifying the struggles in the daily life of these workers, whether at work, in the city or in the neighborhood, besides territorial divisions, with constant movements of approximations and distances, divergences and convergences. Thus, amid conformism and resistances, in the everyday life of these ordinary men, the formation of networks is a web of social relations, practices of convenience, tactics and strategies, allowing the re-signification of that space and the construction of the territorialization of these workers.

Keywords:
Daily life; Territory; Precarious work; Sugarcane cutters

Resumo

Partindo da perspectiva de Michel de Certeau sobre o estudo do cotidiano, buscamos compreender neste artigo como ocorrem as práticas cotidianas de territorialização de trabalhadores alagoanos, cortadores de cana-de-açúcar, que, em meio ao trabalho precário, migram para trabalhar em usinas no Paraná. Adotamos o método da história de vida para a coleta de dados, realizando entrevistas com sete trabalhadores migrantes. Realizamos a análise tendo por base as narrativas dos entrevistados. Por meio de um recorte analítico e num diálogo constante com as teorias utilizadas, procuramos apreender suas ações cotidianas de territorialização. A análise permitiu identificar o quanto o cotidiano desses sujeitos é repleto de lutas, além de divisões territoriais, com movimentos constantes de aproximações e distanciamentos, divergências e convergências. Assim, em meio ao conformismo e às resistências, observamos um emaranhado na formação de redes, nas relações sociais, nas práticas de conveniências, táticas e estratégias, que permitiram a ressignificação daquele novo espaço e da construção da territorialização desses trabalhadores.

Palavras-chave:
Cotidiano; Território; Trabalho precário; Cortadores de cana

Resumen

A partir de la perspectiva de Michel de Certeau en el estudio del cotidiano, buscamos comprender en este artículo cómo ocurren las prácticas cotidianas de territorialización de trabajadores de Alagoas cortadores de caña que migran para trabajar en usinas en el estado de Paraná en medio del trabajo precario. Adoptamos el método de la historia de vida para la recolección de datos realizando entrevistas a siete trabajadores migrantes. El análisis fue realizado partiendo de las narrativas de los entrevistados. Por medio de un recorte analítico y en un diálogo constante con las teorías utilizadas, procuramos aprender sus acciones cotidianas de territorialización. El análisis permitió identificar cuánto el cotidiano de esos sujetos está lleno de luchas, además de divisiones territoriales, con movimientos constantes de aproximaciones y distanciamientos, divergencias y convergencias. Así, en medio del conformismo y las resistencias, puede observamos un enmarañado en la formación de redes, en las relaciones sociales, en las prácticas de conveniencia, tácticas y estrategias, permitiendo la resignificación de aquel nuevo espacio y de la construcción de la territorialización de estos trabajadores.

Palabras clave:
Cotidiano; Territorio; Trabajo precario; Cortadores de caña

INTRODUCTION

According to Ramão, Schneider and Shikida (2007), the sugarcane segment has been marked by a scenario of growth and transformation, which points to two important issues: on the one hand, we have the possibility of ascending the sugar and alcohol sector, bringing economic benefits to the country by increasing productivity; on the other, we have the substitution of manual for mechanical harvesting, providing the gradual replacement of workers by the machines, which is justified by institutional, environmental and economic factors.

However, according to Silva and Santos (2014), even with the mechanization in agroindustries, a large number of manual workers are still needed, that is, sugarcane cutters. Novaes (2009) states that in order to meet this need, companies started hiring people with different profiles; in this case, disciplined and productive. Thus, it was concluded that being a migrant and young were differentiating characteristics when it was intended to aim for such requirements (NOVAES, 2009). Thus, more economically impoverished regions of the country, such as the Northeast - especially Maranhão and Piauí - and the Jequitinhonha Valley, in Minas Gerais, originate the majority of these workers (SILVA, 2008).

The selected workers migrate in the sugarcane harvest, remaining on average eight to ten months in the destination cities; during this period they live in collective housing of the power plants, pensions or in rented houses (GUANAIS, 2012). In this case, the worker relinquishes many things, such as, for example, his own relationship with his family. In addition, these people are regarded as cheap labor, they coexist daily with the silencing of their social and life conditions, being practically invisible in the eyes of society.

It is at this point that we insert Michel de Certeau. To this “invisible” man Certeau (1998) terms as the ordinary man - in this study, represented by the migrant sugarcane cutter. In this scenario and thinking about the new place of residence, it is possible to say that this ordinary man has daily practices responsible for the process of resignification of the lived space; that is, being in a new space, it is necessary to make it “his”, or rather, to territorialize it. According to Raffestin (1993), this territory is marked by power relations, and for the appropriation of space to take place, there is the production of a representation, which according to the author demonstrates the desired image of a territory. In a more practical way, such a desired image is fostered by each migrant through actions and behavior.

According to the above, it is possible to perceive that the territorialization of these migrants is a complex process, resulting from actions of the most diverse subjects, each with its own way of organizing and is in daily life, whether at work, in the city or neighborhood in which they will live, as a result of the daily practices of these subjects, that territorialization happens. Thus, our objective in this article is to understand how the daily practices of territorialization of migrant workers occur, inserted in the context of precarious sugarcane cutting labor.

This article is divided into five parts, including the Introduction. In the second part, we will present the theoretical approach about daily life and territorialization, and an approach to precarious work. In the third part, we will present the methodological procedures. In the fourth part, we will present the analysis and discussion of the results. In the fifth, we will bring the final conclusions.

Daily Practices and the Construction of Territorialization

It is possible to see clearly the division between those who are in accordance with the “standards” of society and those that are in the excluded part. Those who are being and have been excluded for some reason from the social context are mostly silenced. To this man, Michel de Certeau (1998), in his work The Invention of Daily Life, gives the name of ordinary man. For the author, the ordinary man hides under the name of “consumer”, and has a dominated status. However, Certeau (1998) deconstructs this passivity when it emphasizes that, however much the ordinary man is prone to domination, it does not mean that he is passive, but, on the contrary, with his ways of doing, has a whole game to try to dribble the system. According to Dey and Taysdale (2016), the “resistance” is one of the main focuses of Certeau. Thus, based on Foucault, the author develops an understanding about him as an inherent potentiality of the practices.

We start from the assumption that the resistances can be visualized in the daily life and in diverse territories, so that they are part of the struggles and the process of resignification of certain spaces. Compared to a “force field” (SOUZA, 2009), territory is a place of power relations (RAFFESTIN, 1993). According to Souza (2009), power is a social relation and territory is the spatial expression of it. Based on Foucault’s perspective, Raffestin (1993, p. 144) presents a relational view of territory, that is to say, the territory is permeated by social relations. According to the author, the territory “[...] is a space, where a work has been projected, be it energy and information, and that, consequently, reveals relations marked by power”. However, before there was a territory, there was a space (RAFFESTIN, 1993) and it is in everyday life that all this happens.

For Certeau (1998, p. 38), “[...] everyday life is invented with a thousand ways of unauthorized hunting”. The author assumes that the subjects perform a DIY with the dominant system, using tricks and practices according to their interests and rules and thus make movements, even if subtly, to excel at the impositions. According to Duran (2007, p. 119), Certeau “[...] believes in the possibilities of the anonymous crowd to open their own way in the use of products imposed by cultural policies, in a freedom in which each seeks to live, in the best possible way, the social order and violence of things”. That is, to assign adaptations and “new uses” (DEY and TAYSDALE, 2016).

Certeau (1998) refers to a mandatory language, which varies according to the need, that is to say, relationship of strength and social situation with which the ordinary man is facing. For the author, amid the lack of “space”, the ordinary man is weaker compared to the more privileged, so he ends up playing with unequal forces, with the need for the use of maneuvering arising, that is, the “art of the weak”.

The daily practices allow the re-signification and appropriation of a certain space. For Raffestin (1993), the appropriation of space occurs as a result of the production of a representation and this represented space is a relation. According to the author, any project that happens in space and that is expressed by a representation shows the desired image of a territory, or rather, a place of relations. In this way, every project is nourished by practice and knowledge, that is to say, by behaviors and actions that contemplate semic systems - codes and symbols - (RAFFESTIN, 1993). According to the author, such systems are part of the territorial system, which is composed of some elements of space, such as tessituras, nodes and networks, not necessarily homogeneous, leading to a constant movement of approximations, distances, divergences and convergences. It is in this context that, through a representation, “[...] the actors will allocate the areas, the deployment of nodes and the construction of networks”, which are called “essential visible” of space practices, that is, actions that are performed by the actors in a given space (RAFFESTIN, 1993, p. 150). From this the concept of territoriality emerges.

Territoriality reflects the multiple dimensions of what is “lived” within the territorial scope, and is defined by Raffestin (1993, p. 160) such as “[...] a set of relations that originate in a three-dimensional system: society-space-time, in the process of achieving the greatest possible autonomy, compatible with the resources of the system” (RAFFESTIN, 1993, p. 160). It is in this sense that territoriality is inherent in the process of territorialization, or rather, territoriality means condition and result of territorialization (SAQUET, 2009). For the author:

Territoriality is a social phenomenon that involves individuals who are part of the same social group and distinct groups. In the territorialities, there are continuities and discontinuities in time and space; territorialities are closely linked to each place: they give identity and are influenced by the historical and geographical conditions of each place (SAQUET, 2009, p. 88).

It is important to note that more than one territory can be lived or (re) lived at the same time, leading them to cross paths, allowing the existence of a multi-territoriality (HAESBAERT, 2004).

It is in the territories that the daily practices of the ordinary man take place. Certeau (1998) classifies some of these practices as strategies and tactics. The strategy consists of calculating the force relationships, in which a subject who possesses power and will may be isolated; the strategy is postulated from a “proper” place, that is, it is always practiced by the “stronger”, the one that is dominant and has as characteristic the imposition (CERTEAU, 1998, p. 46). The “proper”, to which Certeau (1998) refers, would be the victory of the place over time, that is, of a place where one possesses power and which ensures legitimacy, the one who has the appropriate place has privileges, which gives him still “better vision”.

With regard to tactics, Certeau (1998) also understood as a calculation, but, unlike strategy, does not count on a “proper”. Thus, one can see the absence of power in tactic, since the subject does not have the force, only the time and his ability to deal with it.

Parallel to the concept of tactics and strategies, convenience is also a practice that will be considered in this article. This theme is brought by Pierre Mayol (2011) in the first part of the work The Practice of the Everyday Life 2 - Living and Cooking (organized jointly with Michel de Certeau and Luce Giard), which deals with the urban sociology of the neighborhood and the socio-ethnographic analysis of daily life. The author unites these two perspectives based on the assumption that the neighborhood is a “staging of everyday life”.

Convenience, no matter how unusual it may seem, is very much practiced in relationships in our daily lives. Convenience encompasses social rules and is responsible for producing behaviors that enable the recognition of the other (MAYOL, 2011). According to the author, it is usually practiced in the collective daily life, in the relations between the subject and society and is accompanied by a certain interest of those who practice it in receiving some kind of facility or benefit by means of their relations in the collective. By collectivity it is understood “[...] a social place that induces a practical behavior by which all the user adjusts to the general process of recognition, granting part of oneself to a jurisdiction of the other” (MAYOL, 2011, p. 47).

Mayol (2011) uses the neighborhood to exemplify how convenience takes place. According to him, a subject once installed in a neighborhood is “forced” to get involved in the social environment to live there. Such a feat is not only necessary in the sense of attribution or duty, but also because of the need to create bonds and links in that environment. This practice, according to the author, turns out to be a type of tacit collective agreement, it is not clear, however, the subjects who are involved can perceive it through the language codes and behavior shared in social relations, that is, there are implicit norms in daily practices, in which the subjects are susceptible to the game of exclusion.

We intend, therefore, using the Certeunian perspective, to understand how the daily practices of migrant workers take place, because we understand that it is through them that the subjects modify their daily life and reappropriate the organized space, constructing their territorialities by territorializing.

The Precarious Work in Sugarcane Cutting

When we quote the everyday practices of territorialization, we refer to what can happen in daily life - being a place of possibilities, as mentioned by Certeau (1998). In this way, we believe that territorialization is possible through these practices, whether in the daily life of the city, the neighborhood or work. In this article, our focus was on work, as this is the reason for the migration of sugarcane workers, despite all the present precariousness, with respect to either the poor working or social conditions that are experienced by these workers.

Over time, work underwent several transformations, both in respect to its relation with the worker, as with society. According to Castel (2001), this mutation resulted in a new social issue, currently linked to the weakening of the wage condition. The author emphasizes that this situation must be not only evaluated, but also extinct. Precarious work and unemployment become a worrying reality in our modern society. According to Castel (2001, p. 516), “[...] it began to become clear that the precariousness of employment and unemployment were part of the current dynamics of modernization”. For Castel (2001), precariousness and unemployment are necessary consequences of the new ways of structuring employment, industrial restructurings, competitiveness and flexibilization, that is, consequences of capitalist logic.

According to Antunes (2006), in recent years there have been several changes in the productive process, due to the technological advance, the constitution of forms of flexible accumulation, of the alternative models to the binomial Taylorism/Fordism, with “toyotism” being highlighted for the capital. On the one hand, these changes have brought innumerable technologies and increased productive capacity, but on the other hand, have provided flexibility, which has given rise to numerous social problems (CASTEL, 2001).

In this way, flexibilization appears as the crux of industrial restructuring, and is considered by Castel (2001) the main reason for the precariousness of work. According to the author, flexibility is not reduced to the need to mechanically adjust a specific task, but requires that the worker be readily available to adapt to fluctuations in demand. As we can see, the one who suffers from flexibilization is the worker, because it is he who needs to adapt to the new modes of production, to the increase of the demand, otherwise, his employment is put “at stake”.

In the case of the migrants, subjects of this research, the flexibilization is present in the subcontracting. Novaes (2009) that the growth and modernization of agribusiness led companies to hire people with differentiated profiles, that is to say, disciplined and productive people; in this case, being migrant and young are differentiating characteristics. Thus, being young and migrant have become attributes valued by sugarcane mills (NOVAES, 2009), since people with these predicates are more productive and need work. But who are these people?

In general, most of these workers come from the poorest areas of the country, such as the Northeast, especially Maranhão and Piauí, and the Jequitinhonha Valley, in Minas Gerais (SILVA, 2008). The gender issue is also present in the selection of workers, so that their profile is similar, as stated by Guanais (2012, p. 209): “[...] in the vast majority of cases, these workers are male and young”. Thus, faced with the struggle for survival and the need to live their work, accompanied by dreams and expectations, every year thousands of men migrate to the cities where they will work as sugarcane cutters (GUANAIS, 2012). This is how migration and precarious work on sugarcane cutting become one of the few options for the survival of these people.

Work on sugarcane cutting is precarious, requiring workers with skills and dexterity, by virtue of repetitive and sequential movements, which require great physical effort (NOVAES, 2007). According to Novaes (2007), repetitive and sequential movements favor the onset of numerous occupational diseases, such as tendonitis, bursitis and spinal problems, in addition to the common appearance of cramps. According to Alves (2006), all energy expenditure under the sun, with heavy clothing, makes the workers sweat excessively and lose a lot of water along with mineral salts, which causes dehydration and, consequently, cramp. Termed as “birola” by workers, cramps usually begin in the hands and feet, advancing through the legs and thorax, which can cause severe pain and even convulsion (ALVES, 2006). The cramp occurs in the period of greatest fatigue of the worker, usually in the afternoon, increases with each passing minute, even leading to death in case of delay in care (NOVAES, 2007).

In addition to health-related factors, Kalleberg (2009) emphasizes that precarious work has far-reaching consequences for both workers and families and society, so that the precariousness extends to the life of the subject, affecting communities and homes, causing insecurity and uncertainty in their families, such as being able to marry, have children, how many children to have, besides the subject’s own life condition. It should be emphasized that precarious work, in addition to its own precariousness in the sense of work, offers social consequences for those who are in this context.

The Methodological Paths of this Research

This research, qualitative, used as a preponderant instrument the Oral History interview, in the life history modality. This choice was made because we consider the most appropriate for the context of this research, taking into account its characteristics. We believe it is in the everyday life (CERTEAU, 1998), by means of various practices, whether of production and consumption, which the ordinary man constructs his memories and his stories. Life stories, understood as narratives, guide the assimilation of the ordinary practices of the ordinary man; In addition, the narratives identified in this article are also interpreted as “practices”. In addition, Oral History makes it possible for subjects of generally excluded social categories to be heard. By focusing on their personal memories, we can build a more concrete insight into the dynamics of functioning and the various stages of the trajectory of their social group (ICHIKAWA and SANTOS, 2006).

We conducted data collection, then, through these life history interviews. It is important to say how this process takes place: initially, we contacted a plant that brings and employs migrant workers and we request authorization for the investigation. The authorization was granted, however, provided that the company name would not be disclosed. For this reason, we will not disclose any type of information that may characterize the company or employees participating in the interviews. Thus, the names used in this article are fictitious.

Our insertion in the field occurred through Francisco, also a migrant worker, the main person responsible for the migrants in that plant. The choice of the interviewees took place in face of their availability and interest in participating in the research, since the interviews were conducted after working hours. We conducted interviews with seven migrants: Antônio, Francisco, João, José, Luiz, Nelson and Raimundo. The interviews were recorded with a cellular device and, to guide them, we used a script with the main questions that permeate the research. The guideline was divided into phases, such as: childhood, adult life, motivations for migration, stay in Paraná, work and leisure.

In their testimonies, most of the time, interviewees did not tell their stories in chronological order, so that in order to establish a temporal logic to the narratives, we perform the transcription and not the mere literal transcription, as directed by Joaquim and Carrieri (2018). That is, we reorganized the sentences, put them in chronological order and re-create the text, thus allowing a sequence in their narratives, in addition to letting the “unsaid” and expressions visualized during the interviews to also appear.

It is important to highlight that, in addition to the life history interviews, we also used direct observation to complement the data from this research. There were several meetings, in which, in addition to conducting interviews, we were able to observe the daily life of the neighborhood where they live, as well as the city, which allowed to know the dynamics of the neighborhood, its structure and to understand how it was used by them.

Regarding the analysis, through an analytical cut that sought to understand the historical context of life of the subjects and in a constant dialogue with the theories used, we seek to learn their daily actions of territorialization.

Signs of Contemporary Slavery

There is no way to approach everyday practices without first contextualizing how and where these practices occur, beyond the context in which workers are inserted. Born in the State of Alagoas, from small towns, with almost no job opportunity. All have little schooling and come from fairly poor families. Once a year, these Alagoan workers migrate to the sugar cane harvest work, with their main objective to have a job and consequently the income. The city where they are housed is small, located in the countryside of Paraná and has about 15,000 inhabitants.

Thinking about the housing district still as space, before the attribution of meanings, we see small buildings, practically identical, in a place far from the city, without structure and no vegetation, differing clearly from the rest of the city. Distancing and difference from the rest of the city also have a meaning, since they point to a movement of exclusion of the city towards the Alagoans. It is as if there is a kind of containment, in the city, of that marginalized portion, since the precarious structure itself denounces such exclusion.

Only gradually, with daily practices, the migrants appropriated that space. Regarding the neighborhood in which they are housed, one of the earliest appropriation practices observed refers to small plantations in backyards. It is symbolic, but it concerns an action, whose interest is to make that space as familiar as possible, say, to their “own taste”. While the constructions were practically the same, what differentiated the lodgings was the cultivation of plants and vegetables, such as a mango tree planted in the yard of one of the lodges. In addition, this practice can be visualized as a resistance to the lacking structure offered.

Throughout the period in which they are housed in Paraná - about eight months -, the migrants are under the supervision of a leader, who we will call Francisco. This man has an important role in that place, and is responsible for mediating the relationship between the plant and the workers. Francisco represents the company in the neighborhood where the workers are housed, acts with punitive practices, spreading the rules and laws in that territory. At the same time, it is also an Alagoan and represents the migrants to the company. As he is accountable for them and can also be punished, Francisco intensifies the obligation of compliance.

It is in this context that power relations occur, as well as the practices of power (RAFFESTIN, 1993) between Francisco, the migrants, the city and the plant itself. Of all the interviewees, Francisco is the only one who lives with the family in the lodging and one of those who have more experience and time in the neighborhood, an important element for the construction of territoriality (RAFFESTIN, 1993). In addition, time allowed for the conquest of their “own” place” (CERTEAU, 1998). Francisco had no resources and the only thing that allowed him to stand out was the “game of everyday life” (CERTEAU, 1998). It was this “daily game” that allowed him to become the leader of those workers.

Knowing that the territory is a place permeated by relations of power (RAFFESTIN, 1993), Francisco exerts his in face of the non- adaptation of others to the rules of the new territory. Sometimes, people deny the new territoriality and do not adapt to tessituras, nodes and networks (RAFFESTIN, 1993) that are present. As an example of non-adaptation, we can cite the behavior and customs of workers in disagreement with the laws of that territory, which sometimes leads Francisco to exercise his authority in the neighborhood. Alcoholic beverages, night out, fights, partying, problems at work are reasons of concern for Francisco, because if he does not exercise his role, he is warned by the plant and may suffer punishment. Thus, there is a constant monitoring activity of both parties.

As to the daily life at work, the precariousness inherent to this type of work could be observed in the narratives, as, for example, that of José. According to Alves (2006), 200 meters of cane correspond to approximately six tons, which gives us a dimension of how much physical effort is performed:

José: it is heavy duty work, I live here around 06h00min, then I start there around 07h00min, 08h00min, it depends on how far it is, right? We catch the bus at the bus stop and we go into battle. In there, leaders have their calls, right? Then each leader has 10 to 15 beds, and they share those with everyone. Then each one of those leaders have their share and how to split it amongst people. And those who can cut more, they get 300 meters, 400 meters, 500 meters and it is on a daily basis [...]

Nelson points to the exhaustion occasioned by work:

The sugarcane work [...] it is very heavy duty, the person turns up a little burnt out” [tired]. [...] We arrived today (Saturday), we are tired, tomorrow is a day of rest. [...]And another thing, [the work] is kind of hot. [...] this i show it is here, a person may be doing good, but if the weather changes [...] and the temperature changes a it and I already get sick. Saturday the “fellow” is now good, if the weather changes a bit, the “fellow” catches a cold, and then it gets hot and he gets better, that’s how it is. The weather changes, you are good, and soon enough you are ill [...] the weather changes, you catch a cold, I always have a cold, constantly!

The term “burnt-out” mentioned by Nelson, refers to the exhaustion resulting from the hard work with the cutting of sugarcane. His narrative denounces how bad working conditions cause damage to the worker’s life, causing health problems, compromising their integrity. We could verify this personally, during the interviews we witnessed the arrival of a worker who was ill and had to be hospitalized. When we asked Francisco about this, he confirmed that the problem of that worker was because of work:

And the heat, right? They arrive from the field and they can’t bear it, they have to, right? [Do they get very sick?] Well don’t they? Sometimes they get sick, get cramps, right? You get that heat feeling, right? Sometimes it is too much, right?

Given this scenario, we can say that workers risk their health and their own lives in exchange for wages, which leads to precariousness, as recalled by Kalleberg (2009), to have far-reaching consequences, as it will affect the health of workers, in addition to all other social consequences. Under contemporary slavery, many of them take the risks and live a daily battle in the constant search for a better life. In the case of migrants, the battle goes beyond daily life at work, they daily seek the conquest of their space.

Everyday life Practices: between Fights, Conflicts, Approaches and Distancing

During the field trips, several situations and practices caught our attention, both in the observation and in the narratives of the interviewees. Here, we will present the practices identified and used in their “ways of doing”, used for the re-signification of the daily space and territorialization. Beyond the daily routine of work, migrants face daily difficulties because of the distancing of the family. Migration as a practice has made migrants leave their lives in the former. However, it is worth mentioning that they still maintain ties with the territoriality of origin. The relationships that all maintain with the family allow the territoriality of origin to remain existing and be (re)lived, because according to Raffestin (1993), territoriality is associated with a relationship with time and other subjects and is maintained by the semic systems.

In search of new practices in a new territory, due to precariousness, migrate for something better, that offers the possibility of income for the maintenance of the family, and thus share a close reality, of precarious and painful work, besides a precarious life and with low conditions of ascent. For such similarities and closeness due to migration, they become companions and, as they themselves say, they consider themselves “brothers”, spending a good part of leisure time (besides work) together:

Raimundo: I live with four more people, there are five in the house. Well, everyone is a brother, everyone is a brother, everyone is a brother! [...].

José: They are cool, they are like brothers, they really are nice, for me they are amongst the best, I have nothing to say against them.

The term “brothers” is used by them as a demonstration of partnership and gives the impression of a harmonious relationship; however, it is worth mentioning that just as there is a partnership between them, there are also conflicts. However, there is a strong sense of collectivity among migrant workers and this is revealed in some accounts, like those of Raimundo and José, who consider their roommates as their “brothers”. In this way, they share very similar difficulties, which leads them to identify themselves and carry out new practices in a new territory, sharing relationships, meanings and realizing the territorial production, as stated by Raffestin (1993).

Considering that power relations permeate the territory, and that the meshes present in the tessitures are not homogeneous, we can view the game - constituted of “ways of doing” (CERTEAU, 1998) - of which these migrants are a part of. With the narratives, it is clear that the territoriality of migrants is built through the relationship between them, even because it is determinant for the territorialization the relation with other people of the same place of origin.

However, it must be said that relations between migrants are not always so harmonious, there are conflicts, This is in line with the reference by Raffestin (1993) to approximation and distance in the territory. This detachment is visible in some narratives. José points to excessive drinking as a distancing factor:

I used to live around here [nearby city], and there used to be 60 people in one of those saloons right, né? Yeah, it was a nightmare because of drunken people! There would be drunken people, they would start fights, the fellows would move away and then it was that fight time. [...] I don’t like hanging out with nobody.

In fact, there are conflicts in the relationship between migrants. In this way, going out alone becomes convenient for José, since he intends to follow the rules of the new territoriality. In addition, living with unfamiliar people propitiates this scenario of struggles, because, as João says, is “being accustomed to the people of the family”. Thus, adaptation becomes a slow process.

With this, some contradictions are perceived in certain narratives that present “harmonious”, because conflicts also permeate their relations, and there is a constant movement of approximations and distances between migrants. In this way, territoriality is being built through these relationships that exist and are important in this process, but which, at times, also clash.

It is important to emphasize that the struggles do not only occur between them, but also with the city. In fact, as already mentioned in this article, there is a division between the migrants and the city that is revealed by the very structure and location of the neighborhood: after all, why are the lodgings so far from the city? Why is there no structure in the neighborhood? João’s narrative confirms this idea:

That’s why the person, who I did not even tell you about, feels more different like that, “becomes” this, because in the person’s own space it is different and here it becomes even more [...] If someone from here goes on our behalf, they will fell different regardless [...].

The difference pointed out by João refers to the new territory, since it has tessituras, nodes, networks and systems semic different from those of its previous territory, in addition to the distancing that makes it difficult to create networks. It can therefore be said that if there is a relationship between the city and the migrants, it is precarious. At this point, it is made clear the “distancing” Raffestin (1993) refers to, which hinders this relationship. In this way, the territory has harmony; however, on the condition that migrants do not exceed certain limits, such as, for example, not to drink, not to fight, that is, to respect the rules and laws of that territory to be accepted. This is clear in Luiz’s narrative when asked if he perceives any prejudice:

No, it has not been my case yet, but it must have happened to some people, right? [...]With me it was not my problem, no, not me. It is because I am from Parana.

When he comments that “it must have happened to some people”, he acknowledges and affirms the distance between them and the city. What is striking is the affirmation of being from “Parana”; that is, it is as if he says that there is no conflict between him and the city because he has already adapted and follows the rules and laws of that territory.

In the face of distancing, migrants have heterogeneous practices that, in a way, contribute to the development of territoriality. Sometimes, some migrants keep distancing themselves from the rest of the city, preferring to cultivate relationships only with their peers, as is the case of José and Antônio, who have not yet made friends in the city:

Antônio: [Do you have friend in town?] No, not from this city. There are two from where I come from and there are two from the small houses. From the city, I do not know anyone.

José: [friendships in town] I haven’t made any friends, not until now. I came in March and I have only friends from here, in this case, the accommodation, in this case right? (...) But friends I can make back at home (laughter).

Therefore, “being alone” or not to relate to the people of the city is a practice of resistance to the new territoriality, which is not a practice unique to José. It is in this context that the construction of networks in the city becomes difficult.

As evidenced, there is this difficulty of developing networks with the people of the city. However, there is an element capable of acting as a foment for such an issue: identification, in the sense of having something in common. An example of this would be the alcoholic beverage. Just as drinking (in excess) is responsible for generating conflicts and distancing in the lodgings, it is able to bring close people from the city to the migrants:

Raimundo: Having lived here for 5 years, as I go by, they call me “hey you”, [...] I have a sip here and there, I have a beer or two, and I have killed time.

José: I arrive at the bar like this and get talking, then a friend joins me, we talk, we make friends and that is how life takes me [...]

In view of this, we can say that networks in the city occur through mediation, such as, for example, this “drinking” attitude, which allows some identification with each other. It is interesting to note that, even with the divisions in the territory, the migrants report having made “friendships” in the city. However, their narratives make clear that they maintain social relations only with their peers, while with other people in the city have a limited relationship, mediated mainly by the drink, but also by the convenience, which is what allows the “approximation” (RAFFESTIN, 1993).

The practice of convenience is used by migrants as a way of giving a new use to consumption of the negative social representation of the Alagoan, in addition to allowing greater acceptance by the people of the city. Thus, through convenience, they can be seen with “new perspective” society, and thus become more widely accepted:

Francisco: Space we build first with friendship, right? Friendship, respect, consideration for others, right? [...] I built a friendship here better than where I lived. I conquer [my space] with friendship, the word is this, friendship, be humble, right?

In view of the narrative above, the interest of migrants in territorializing is clear, because they strive to comply with the tacit collective agreement, in the statements by Mayol (2011), in that place. Thus, in search of “non-exclusion”, accept and practice the rules of the new territoriality, which contributes to territorialization.

There is no way to discuss the process of territorialization of these subjects without addressing the existing resistance during such process. No doubt, there are some factors, such as family distance, cultural differences, which hinder the development of territoriality. It is in this context that tricks are used to (re)live the territoriality of origin, at the same time as tactics that are part of the process of territorialization.

One of the moments when we most saw discontent in the faces of the interviewees during the interviews was when they talked about the feeding. Both in the workplace and in the lodgings, food is provided through a third party company, which serves lunch with simple menu, few varieties, such as rice, beans, a type of meat and salad. They miss the yams, the couscous and the Northeastern seasonings.

To overcome this need, migrants make a new use of food consumption: the tactic consists of preparing, in a group, foods typical of their homeland. In this way, making a different food is associated not only with the need to (re) live the territoriality of origin, but points to microresistance movements - in the words of Certeau (1998) - on the part of the migrants, who, through the practice of cooking, contribute to the process of territorialization in the new territory. The tactics (CERTEAU, 1998) are seen as forms of microrresistences, which are practiced in order that the ordinary man stands out against the domination of the system. Based on this, we can affirm that these subjects are not only consumers and reproducers of what they are compelled, because they have their ways of resisting.

In general, in all the narratives, it is possible to observe the relation that the migrants have with the work, which influences the process of territorialization, while establishing a link between the migrant and the place. In this way, the suffering at work, the distance from the family, the precariousness lived within the scope of work and the social are faced day by day in a real force field, as stated by Souza (2009).

Given this scenario, we perceive that the social relations practiced in the new territory, especially among migrants, are fundamental to their process of territorialization. Migrant workers would be the nodes in that territory, who act in tessituras, in order to maintain their relations, ensure functions, influence, control, approach or distance and thus create networks (RAFFESTIN, 1993). Nodes are groupings of individuals or groups and represent the expression of the individual or collective ego of the actor or actors composing them; besides, they symbolize the position of the actors (RAFFESTIN, 1993). In this way, it is in practice and in relationships that migrants share actions that contemplate codes and symbols, so they communicate their intentions and material realities and territorialize.

In this way, the territorialization of migrants consists of a simultaneous and non-linear process. In this process, we emphasize the importance of the figure of Francisco as the person with direct formal authority over the migrants in that territory. At the same time that he is friends with the workers, he performs his role of ‘foreman”, being the ‘spokesperson’ of the plant. The whole relation of the migrants with the plant goes through the person, Francisco. In this sense, he is at the top of the hierarchy for migrant workers, and by using his authority he makes the rules of that territory to be followed. Those who do not fit are sent back to their homeland; not territorializing, therefore.

Thus, through narratives and observations, we were able to interpret how the micro-practices of this “ordinary man” (CERTEAU, 1998) to territorialize the new space. With their daily practices and in the face of territorial struggles, these migrant workers were able to re-signify that space. In this way, the set of relationships that they developed, originated in the tripod society-space-time, culminated in a process of territorialization, which allowed a new territoriality, but without disconnecting them from their previous territory, thus giving meaning to the multi-territoriality narrated by them in their life histories.

FINAL STEPS

We carried out this qualitative research with the objective of understanding how the daily practices of territorialization of Alagoan workers occur, sugarcane cutters, who migrate to work in plants in Paraná.

As a result, we could understand that this daily life to which we refer is not linear and, thus, the territorialization also forms in a complex way. In an attempt to address the various “absences” they have had in their lives, as well as employment possibilities in their homeland, these workers migrate in search of better living conditions and income. However, territorializing in a new space is not easy, and we could notice, based on its narratives, that they leave a precarious life in their homeland to enter another precarious life in the place where they migrated.

The working conditions are exhaustive, the food they receive does not recall their origins at all, social relations in the mill, in the neighborhood and in the city are difficult. They suffer prejudices from the residents of the city where they are housed, while, although they are called “brothers”, many of them also do not want to strengthen ties with their peers and fellow countrymen. The tesserations, nodes, and networks of the semic system become more complex in this context. Thus, what is revealed in the research carried out is that perhaps there is a great resistance on the part of them to territorialize in the new space in which they are.

When Raffestin (1993) mentions that territoriality reflects the multiple dimensions of what is lived in the territorial scope, we can understand the process of territorialization of Alagoan workers based on the society-space-time tripod presented by the author. The space they “must” territorialize is that of the power plant, the neighborhood, the city to which they migrated. The social relations, both current and those already lived, however, interfere greatly in this process, sometimes facilitating, but also hindering territorialization; after all, they are multiterritorialities that coexist within them in their daily lives: of a family left in Alagoas and of a current reality lived as a migrant. Maybe the time of stay in Paraná - about 8 months - is the factor of this tripod that most hinders its process of territorialization. After all, why should they adapt, making this place “their home”, if they know that soon they will return to their homeland?

Thus, we note how this process of territorialization is heterogeneous, especially in this context of precarious work and prejudices experienced by this group of workers. But we do not mean that their daily practices do not lead to territorialization: even resisting, using tactics or accepting the conveniences of life in society, these ordinary men build a reality that deserves to be better understood and, in the last instance, altered in what is most cruel.

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• [Translated version] Note: All quotes in English translated by this article’s translator.
• We thank CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico) for the financial assistance to carry out this research

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  17 Apr 2020
• Date of issue
  Jan-Mar 2020

History

• Received
  30 Apr 2018
• Accepted
  10 Jan 2019