The third margin of the river: territory and territorialities in the dreams of the community of Bom Jardim da Prata – São Francisco/MG

Abstract

This article aims to present and contribute to the discussion about the quilombola community of Bom Jardim da Prata, located in the municipality of São Francisco, north of Minas Gerais, and about territorial disputes involving water resources. Thus, the analysis is based on the space for interaction and survival, transforming it into a place of knowledge and action in which work becomes a way of being that is transfigured into socio-affective and sociocultural relations between man and nature. It is from the river that the vazanteiros attribute the concept of existing to a social organization established by rules for the use of the territory. Although there is a territorial division of the waters and its margins, these groups do not remain isolated, there are constant interactions and flows of people in the river, in which it is possible to identify other social actors, such as ferrymen, boatmen and fishermen. This study analyzed how the process of low-water agriculture takes place in the São Francisco River, the role of the low-lying river as an agent in the sertão and the social dynamics established in the community. Therefore, a bibliographic analysis was carried out in order to understand this conflict and how it can contribute to the discussion of this topic.