Educação e luta pelo território: formação dos líderes caiçaras do município de Iguape-SP

Abstract

Understanding the influence of schooling and higher education of Caiçara leaders in the struggle for land requires a discussion about the roles of basic education and higher education in the lives of leaders of traditional communities, more specifically the Caiçara. Caiçara communities are part of the group of traditional Brazilian communities; this social group sustainably obtains the resources necessary for their existence from the land and sea. In addition, they have a strong affinity with music and dance through Fandango and with other cultural activities such as crafts and typical foods of the community. This research aimed to understand the influence of schooling and political training of Caiçara leaders in the process of struggle for land in the municipality of Iguape-SP. The research was based on Historical-Dialectical Materialism (HDM), through the contradiction of Marxist dialectics, and a qualitative reflection was used. The methodologies used were bibliographical research, documentary research, and an empirical study was carried out through semi-structured interviews with seven participants, five of whom were leaders and two were members of the Caiçara community. The results demonstrate, through the analysis of the interviews, the contributions of basic education and higher education in the lives of the leaders, as well as how this influenced the territorial struggles and the empowerment of the rights of the community and its members, despite the closure of the only and last rural Caiçara school in the Juréia-Itatins Ecological Station. However, they recognize that in basic education, the school, through its teachers, did not address the issue of Caiçara identity and cultural activities. Another important detail found in the statements of the interviewees is the prohibition of the community from planting sustainably within the territory by the public authorities of the state of São Paulo.