UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
State encroachment and migration in a peripheral frontier: A
case study of Caracaraí, Brazil
Source: Unknown. Provided by Professor Petronio. Caracaraí, Brazil
Naiara Rodriguez Peña Naiara.rodriguezpena@student.uva.nl
Student ID. 11798467
Political Science: Political Economy Masters Program First supervisor: Jeroen Doomernik
Second supervisor: Simona Vezzoli
June 2019 Amsterdam
Abstract:
This thesis examines the evolution of migration in Caracaraí, a rural frontier Brazilian town in the state of Roraima from the 1950s to the 1990s, when the region was undergoing major political and socio-economic alterations. This thesis shows that the urban planning processes together with the expansion of state functions impacted on the mobility patterns of the town. Traditional short-distance migration patterns associated with river-based commerce persisted, while the town started attracting higher volumes of small northeastern entrepreneurs as new occupations emerged in the construction, hospitality and public sectors. Based on secondary data and 20 interviews, this thesis explores the mobility patterns of peasants, extractive workers, skilled-temporary migrants and entrepreneurs in Caracaraí. Three main patterns can be drawn: first, early mobility patterns were circumscribed to the river-based commerce, which attracted (temporal) traders and circular migration from extractive workers and fishermen settled along the Rio Branco. Secondly, state-driven investment in the infrastructure network of the town triggered the temporal migration of skilled and professional workers, as well as the mobility of small entrepreneurs looking for working opportunities and leaving behind distress. Finally, the introduction of construction companies led to an expansion of the public administration that, being able to collect taxes, started providing the municipality with public services, such as transport, teachers or housing. This, together with the provision of public employment, led to the circular mobility of peasants and children alike, the immigration of individuals living along the river and the settlements of skilled public workers. Hence, we observe how the encroachment of the state in frontier settlements triggers and shapes migration in particular ways.
Keywords: internal migration, circular patterns, Brazilian migration, frontier studies, social transformations, state formation, infrastructure development, urban planning, economic restructuring.
Acnowledgements: The research leading to these results was part of the MADE
(Migration as Development) Consolidator Grant project, receiving funding from the European Research Council under the European Community's Horizon 2020 Programme (H2020/2015-2020)/ERC Grant Agreement 648496. The author also thanks Prof. Dr. Hein de Haas, Dr. Simona Vezzoli, Katharina Natter and Kerilyn Schewel for their valuable comments on early drafts of this article.
Table of contents
1. Introduction ... 4
2. Conceptual framework ... 6
2.1. Understanding frontier areas ... 7
2.2. Understanding the complexity of social change ... 9
2.2.1. The notion of social transformation ... 11
3. Methodology ... 15
4. Roraima, a brief historical context of the region and its migration system ... 16
5. Caracaraí from the 1950s to the mid-1960s: A river-based economy and a circumscribed migratory system ... 23
5.1. Introduction of capitalist industries and wage employment in Caracaraí ... 24
5.2. The attractiveness of Rio Branco, merchants and extractive workers ... 27
6. Migration diversification and the encroachment of the state from the mid-1960s to the 1990s ... 28
6.1. State-led infrastructure, construction companies and economic diversification ... 29
6.1.1. The establishment of construction companies ... 30
6.1.2. Local economic expansion ... 32
6.2. The State as provider of housing and jobs ... 33
7. Dynamics of social transformation and migration ... 36
7.1. Social transformations and migration dynamics ... 36
7.1.1. The logic of international markets, lack of safety net, and immigration and adaptation of extractive workers ... 37
7.1.2. State-driven infrastructure, Northeastern immigrants, and greater opportunities in Caracaraí ... 39
7.1.3. The provision of housing and jobs and unskilled and skilled immigration ... 41
7.2. Non-migration and return dynamics... 44
8. The applicability of the social transformation perspective in frontier settlements... 46
9. Conclusions ... 48
REFERENCES ... 50
1. Introduction
This thesis examines the evolution of migration in Caracaraí, a rural frontier Brazilian town in the state of Roraima, from the 1950s to the 1990s, when Roraima was undergoing major political and socio-economic transformations. The research identified the social transformations that took place in Caracaraí and analyzed how these had an effect on the town, eventually affecting the migration strategies of Caracaraíenses, Roraimenses, and residents in other Brazilian states coming to or leaving the town. One of the central reasons to research migration in Caracaraí was to understand the changes in mobility dynamics and their association with state-driven development projects occurring since the late 1960s, which led to the transformation of the town from a traditional society, where the state control was limited and capitalist intervention low, to an urban center. Migration to Caracaraí has traditionally stemmed mostly from river-based commerce, which attracted (temporal) professionals, traders and extractive workers. Over the mid-1960s-1990s period, we observe a diversification of migration in Caracaraí, due to the presence of construction companies in charge of the urban planning of the town. This process attracted higher volumes of skilled and temporary migrants, as well as small Northeastern and Amazonian entrepreneurs, and peasants from Baixo Rio Branco as new occupations emerged in the construction and public sector. This raises interesting questions about alterations in the socio-economic structure of the town and how these affected the livelihood and the migration decision-making of the population. Thence, this thesis explores the macro-level dynamics that have influenced the mobility patterns of the municipality, highlighting the encroachment of the state in the town and how it influenced short-distance mobility and internal long-distance migration dynamics.
Thus, the thesis focuses on mobility dynamics during the early phases of economic and governmental development and on the migration patterns that have accompanied social development in Caracaraí. Given the state-driven development projects, the study focuses on the mobility patterns accompanying these changes that affected a segment of the population composed by extractive workers, skilled and temporary migrants, peasants and entrepreneurs settled or stuck in Caracaraí. The objective is to analyze their migration patterns, motives and destination selection, as well as the propensity to stay among those that still expect an economic upturn in the town. This way, the research question driving this thesis is the following: How did state-driven developments affect the socio-economic
structure and migratory patterns of Caracaraí from the 1950s to the 1990s? The research was conducted with the following sub-questions in mind: What were the pre-existing socio-economic activities and the mobility patterns of the town? What developments took place in the 1950s-1990s period and by whom were they led? In particular, how did these developments affect the structure and migratory patterns of Caracaraí during that timeframe?
The social history of Caracaraí was researched applying a social transformation perspective (Castles 2010; Portes 2010; de Haas et al. forthcoming), which allows to analyze the profound changes experienced in the economic, demographic, political, technological and cultural dimensions of society, and their consequent effect on the livelihoods of the population and migration dynamics. The interrelation between social change and migration dynamics was already theorized by Portes (2010) and Castles (2010). They propose a social transformation perspective to accommodate the factors that shape migration processes. On the one hand, such framework does not overlook political, cultural or technological shifts in favor of economic restructuring. This means that non-economic factors are not treated as externalities, and that the perspective acknowledges the interconnectedness between factors. On the other, the interrelation between the different societal dimensions, together with the recognition that social change presents historical variations enables to theorize migration as an integral part of change and allows to link local mobility dynamics to regional, national and global (change) processes. Drawing from this perspective and in an attempt to conceptualize migration as a “part of complex and varied processes of social change” (Castles 2010: 1568), this thesis intersects the social transformation perspective with frontier studies. This association is particularly helpful to understand the mobility processes that accompany structural transformations in the frontier town of Caracaraí. This is because of the overemphasis within frontier studies on changes related to the economic structure, particularly in regard to the evolution from non-capitalist to capitalist modes of production (Browder and Godfrey 1990; Findley 1988). Putting the spotlight in the economic restructuring not only overshadows changes in the political organization of people or alterations in the definition of what a ‘good life’ is, but also obscures the mobility behaviors that accompany such shifts (Diniz 2002).
Hence, this thesis aims to contribute to an expanding literature on the nexus between development and migration. Particularly, it aims to unpack the relationship between
migration and social change in Caracaraí, an area that could be described as peripheral, pre-industrial (Zelinsky 1971) or resource niche (Skeldon 1997). The town of Caracaraí fits this description given the absence of the state and the fact that economic outlooks remained associated with small-scale itinerant agricultural projects, cattle farming, and extractive industries until the 1960s, when governmental-led projects were introduced. As a result of the limited governmental intervention and drawing from mobility transition approaches (Zelinsky 1971; Skeldon 1997), we could expect intra-state circulation migration patterns, limited migration to/from core Brazilian (southern) nuclei and minimal international migration flows. This thesis also intends to explore the drawing power of the town before and after the introduction of capitalism, considering the significant socio-economic importance of the town prior to state-driven urban planning processes.
First, I present the conceptual framework, and the methodological approach. Then, I introduce a brief historical and political context of Roraima as well as its migration system. I explore the political, economic and technological transformations experienced in the town during the 1950s-1990s, which altered livelihoods and encouraged migration. Next, I identify the dynamics of transformation that explain the timing, composition, diversification and direction of migration, as well as non-migration and return patterns in this frontier society. Lastly, I examine how this case enriches the academic literature and I present some concluding remarks.
2. Conceptual framework
This chapter is structured in 2 sub-chapters. Firstly, an overview of the conceptualization of change and migration in frontier areas is explored. Secondly, the social transformation perspective is analyzed, particularly highlighting the interconnected dimensions of social change embedded in such theoretical approach. This illustrates the applicability of the social transformation framework to frontier areas. The interconnection between the political, technological, economic, demographical and cultural dimensions that explains the transition of frontier towns allows to better comprehend the social transformation experienced in the rural frontier town of Caracaraí presented in chapters below.
2.1. Understanding frontier areas
Mobility in frontier areas has been particularly associated with the transformation of traditional communities into capitalist societies1 (Foweraker 1981; Browder and Godfrey 1990; Findley 1988). This has led to the conceptualization of migration as a by-product, a consequence of economic restructuring.The reason being that frontier settlements not only indicate the “furthest (demographical) advance of civilization within a state” (Diniz 2002: 21), but also the transformation of land into a production zone and the conversion of peasants into salaried workers, when these settlements evolve into economic frontiers (Neiva 1949; Martins 1996).
Regional approaches exploring the evolution of frontier settlements associate the dynamics of growth of frontier regions with development sources external to local models of production (Vance 1970; Meyer 1980). These approaches explain migration as an outcome subjected to the (economic) development brought by exogenous agents, which attract migrants from peripherical frontier settlements to frontier towns with a better infrastructure network. This is understood given the difficulties to raise rural incomes and reduce poverty in resource-dependent rural economies2, and the greater working opportunities and higher wages that (quasi-)urbanized frontier settlements offer.
Examples of this theoretical lens include Vance (1970)’s mercantile model, linked to the trading systems developed between colonial powers and occupied lands -and applicable to East Brazil (cf. Meyer 1980)-, or Muller’s (1977) description of the evolution of frontier zones in North America. According to Muller, the evolution of frontiers is divided into: (i) a pioneer periphery stage; (ii) a specialized periphery phase, characterized by a strategic location and incipient transportation networks with other cities, which generate the comparative advantage of some settlements; and (iii) a transitional periphery, connected with national urban centers and defined by the presence of competitive industrial activities and functional specializations. Caracaraí exemplifies Muller’s specialized periphery phase, given that its maritime importance led to transportation networks with Manaus, capital city of Amazonas.
1Capitalism in this thesis is conceptualized as the acquisition and privatization of land, human
labor and capital to manufacture, distribute, and consume goods and services.
Frontier migration, particularly in the Amazonas, has also been associated with the confrontation between different interest groups over frontier resources (Diniz 2002; Findley 1988; Foweraker 1981). Neiva (1949) theorized how clashes among social groups, e.g. small-scale peasants vs large-scale producers and companies, occur when frontier settlements integrate into the economic capitalist system. The aim of enterprises to expand and control the means of production impact on the traditional livelihoods of small farmers, given that the introduction of capitalist agents eventually displaces small producers from their economic niche and leads to their out-migration.
This way, Findley (1988) explores the clashes over resources accompanying frontier evolution and conclude that mobility is an expected outcome. The authors propose a framework to explain the mobility flows that characterize evolution in frontier settlements, for this they distinguish three evolution phases of frontier areas: pioneering, commercialization and consolidation or abandonment. The first phase is characterized by the occupation of land by large families; the second stage is concerned by the improvement of infrastructure networks and an easier access to markets, which attracts migrants. Finally, the consolidation or abandonment stage refers to the selling of land plots by indebted individuals and by those with a lack of capital, and the buying of parcels by the better off. Displacement and re-migration in this last phase are significant considering that the concentration of land on the hands of agricultural companies and the surplus labor force (i) hinders peasants’ acquisition of land, and (ii) leads to the search of either a more affordable plot elsewhere or an employment in a more economically specialized city.
In the south of Roraima, frontier settlements follow a similar 4-stage evolution pattern: pioneer, transitional, rural consolidated frontiers, and urban consolidated frontier settlements (Diniz 2002). The former is characterized by the migration of Northeastern and Amazonian rural peasants, who have prospects of acquiring land and migrate through migration chains, given the remoteness of the state. Transitional settlements attract migrants from a broader geographical scope, even if displaced peasants still make the larger percentage of incoming migrants and thus, the acquisition of land remains the principal reason for migration. Considering the improvements in the transportation system, the introduction of (agricultural) companies starts, which attracts job-seeking migrants. Rural consolidated frontier settlements are marked by stable formal and informal jobs at large agricultural settlements, which attracts landless and indebted
peasants alike. The introduction of capitalist agricultural companies leads to the establishment of land markets, which decreases the possibilities of peasants to acquire land, and drives peasants out of their traditional livelihood. This shows the confrontation between peasants and capitalist agents. Finally, urbanized consolidated frontier settlements attract a broader pool of displaced peasants and urban migrants in account of the good communication links with adjacent rural settlements and other major cities, and the growth of formal and informal labor markets (ibid).
These models present some insights related to the drivers of rural-frontier migration in the Amazonas. However, Diniz’s framework applies to the agricultural frontier settlements developed from spontaneous or official colonies set up from the mid-1970s onwards (ibid: 122-124). These include, for example, the agricultural colonies of Alto Alegre, Cantá, Vila Iracema or Confiança. The town of Caracaraí contrasts with the structure of these settlements. This is because despite the reliance on extractive activities, particularly at pioneering stages, political interests and governmental investments, urban planning processes and the establishment of capitalist construction and utility companies affected the mobility patterns of the town. Caracaraí presents, then, an interesting case to explore how the encroachment of the state influenced the structure and migration dynamics of a specialized frontier settlement.
2.2. Understanding the complexity of social change
The sets of changes that differentiate life from century to century have been traditionally theorized employing the notions of ‘development’ and ‘modernization’. These concepts are subjected to reductionist problems, since they (i) misrepresent and simplify the experiences of societies by looking for similitudes between the development history of Western and non-Western societies, and (ii) imply that social change is directional (Brohman 1995). In fact, the notion of modernization entails that social change transforms underdeveloped societies into more developed and modern ones, which means that the objective is to mimic the development history of Anglo-American countries3 (Chang
3 This rationale is also present in global power structures and in the agenda of international
development agencies. Take the example of the World Bank, which “wields significant power in influencing development in theory and practice” (Broad 2006: 388). The institution reinforces
2011: 474). This way, ‘development’ has been framed in two manners: on the one hand, as a natural, historical process that societies experience without the intervention of individuals, and on the other, as the result of governmental intervention (Arndt 1981). The town of Caracaraí exemplifies both forms of development. The former theorization is present in the social history of the municipality prior to active state encroachment starting in the mid-1960s, when there was neither a predestined course of development nor state-driven projects to promote development in town. The intervention of Brazilian military administrations in Caracaraí from the early 1970s to mid-1980s, when basic infrastructure was constructed to foster the settlement of individuals with the aim of enlarging the economic frontier of the country and of defending the territorial limits of Brazil, illustrates development as the result of state-driven intervention. Change in Caracaraí is therefore related not only to the structuring and specialization of the economy, but also to political interests and alterations in the technological dimension of the town. For this reason, the notion of development and modernization that heavily emphasizes economic performance indicators, such as GDP per capita (cf. Sen 1997), as well as the emphasis of frontier studies on economic restructuring do not suffice to comprehend change in Caracaraí. Rather, I rely on the social transformation perspective, which is defined as “fundamental change in the way that societies are organized and resources are distributed that goes beyond the continual, incremental processes of social change that are always at work” (de Haas et al. forthcoming). This perspective focuses on the distinct societal dimensions that explain change, providing a more comprehensive framework.
and promoting privatization, financial and trade liberalization and deregulation. Such behavior has been coined as ‘paradigm maintenance’ (Wade 1996; Broad 2006) and is applicable to the International Monetary Fund too. These institutions articulate particular theoretical formulations of development and reject others, manipulate data to reinforce the neoliberal economic agenda (Wade 1996; Broad 2006), and shape the outlook of national governmental institutions.
2.2.1. The notion of social transformation
The Great Transformation by Karl Polanyi (2001, first published in 1944) has been associated with the notion of ‘transformation’. In his work, the author theorized the socio-political turmoil that England experienced during the rise of the market economy in the 19th century and argued that the onset of the modern state is bound to the establishment of modern market economies. The change from a premodern economic system based on personal and community relationships to a capitalist market fostered by state influence led to the subordination of the societal fabric. This implies the demolition and annihilation of society. In an attempt to avoid a detachment between capitalist markets and the social structure, protective countermoves are put in place. This way, Polanyi described the dynamics of modern society as embedded in a ‘double movement’: whereas capitalist markets aim to expand continuously, governmental institutions enforce measures and policies in relation to labor, land and money4.
Polanyi shows that alteration on the structure of the economies -from premodern to modern market economies- also leads to changes in the organization of society, meaning that such alteration is not reduced to economic spheres. Thence, the concept of ‘transformation’ or ‘social transformation’ is a broader notion that includes the interrelation of demographic, technological, political, cultural as well as economic changes at a structural-meta level to explain societal change (de Haas et al. forthcoming). This means that scientific, cultural and technological revolutions, rural-urban transformations, processes of industrialization, or ideological movements should be considered to analyze transformations in the socio-political structure of societies, as well as to explore migration dynamics (ibid; Castles 2010).
In fact, various authors have emphasized that non-economic conditions are key to comprehend change in the organization of societies and mobility patterns. Among which we found Mabogunje’s (1970) approach to rural-urban migration, where the author highlights the importance of non-economic conditions, such as changes in social conditions, transportation and communication infrastructures, technological advancements and governmental policies, to better understand migration flows.
4 Thence, modern states are governed by two organizing principles: the principle of economic
Zelinsky’s (1971) ‘Hypothesis of the Mobility Transition’ further theorized mobility dynamics as a complex phenomenon that evolves through time along with changes in the societal structure. In fact, Zelinsky claims that certain consistency exists in human mobility patterns across space and time and treats migration dynamics not as a byproduct of the development process, but as a fundamental part of it (ibid: 221-222).
To this extent, the author presents a five-phase migration transition, that underlines change within migration patterns along evolution on the organization of societies. The five phases are the following: i) pre-modern traditional society, ii) early transitional, iii) late transitional, iv) advanced society, and v) prospective super-advanced society. The transition from the first stage to the ultimate one implies changes in the migration patterns, as well as a demographic transition from high fertility and mortality rates in pre-modern societies to low/moderate rates of natural increase due to the decline in fertility and stabilization of mortality levels in latter stages. Alterations in migration patterns include (i) an increase in international migration flows starting in early transitional societies, which start declining at the end of late transitional societies; (ii) high migration rates to internal frontiers during the second and third phase of societal modernization; (iii) a significant growth in rural-urban migration starting with early transitional societies and declining in advanced societies; and (iv) a continuous growth of both urban-urban and intraurban mobility flows and circulation dynamics starting with the third phase of societal development, late transitional societies (ibid). In a similar fashion to Zelinsky’s and Mabogunje’s (1970) approach, Brown and Sanders (1981) also highlight the non-economic factors, such as improvements in health care or the proliferation of infrastructure networks, that affect migration along development processes.
Thence, shifts in mobility patterns do not only account for the introduction of capital intense modes of production and higher incomes during the second phase of societal development, but according to Zelinsky (1971), improvement in transportation and communication technologies, changes in life aspirations, more flexibility in social hierarchies, and provision of basic services in urban centers -e.g. sanitation- affect societal development processes and consequently, migration dynamics. Although this approach provides a more comprehensive perspective to describe mobility patterns, it faces shortcomings. Apart from criticism emphasizing the high mobility present in pre-industrial societies (Lucassen and Lucassen 2009), Zelinsky’s (1971) theoretical model describes European experiences and the framework is little informative concerning the
pace of change that societies experience. This is, due to the deterministic nature of the perspective, the author does not anticipate the bypassing of phases. This is an obvious case in the Brazilian Amazon, where “certain Indian groups…have moved from a ‘pre-modern traditional society’ mobility pattern to an ‘advanced society’s’ in a matter of months after being contacted by southern Brazilians” (Diniz 2002: 43).
The theoretical perspectives proposed by these authors preceded Castles’ (2010) and Portes’ (2010) contemporary formulations. These authors also consider social transformation as a fundamental change in the organization, structure and resource distribution of society, that goes beyond the economic dimension and allows to better comprehend societal changes by also including non-economic variables. Castles (2010) applies the social transformation perspective to migration studies to understand the various factors that shape mobility patterns. For this, the author emphasizes the need to conceptualize the social context and variability, but also highlights the importance of interconnected political, economic and social factors (ibid: 1576-1578) to understand global change and the migratory process.
de Haas et al. (forthcoming) further theorize that societies are composed by distinct dimensions that explain social change. Indeed, the authors propose to consider social transformations in a more comprehensive manner by conceiving societal structure as composed by the following five dimensions: political, economic, cultural, technological and demographic. This helps understanding how alterations in the organization of societies affects human relations and human mobility at different levels. The reason to theorize societies in these dimensions is understood, on the one hand, given the universal applicability, historical and geographical-wise, of these realms. On the other, distinguishing societies in these dimensions enables to contemplate specific manifestations of change and how the interaction of the five faces might play variably depending on the historical and geographical setting (ibid). This means that, even if transformation occurs when shifts in a particular dimension is great enough to impact others, the evolution of each dimension is not dependent or equal. For instance, some consequences of the industrial revolution in the 19th century were a degradation of sanitary conditions due to an increasing urbanization and unseen levels of morbidity and mortality (cf. Hassan Konteh 2009).
What are the processes of social transformation involved in the transition of rural frontier towns? How can we account for change in Caracaraí during the 1950s-1990s? The
long-term study of the town during the 1950s-1990s period and the examination of the various dimensions promoting change in the municipality enables a deep understanding of migration processes in transitional peripheral frontier settlements and the multiple drivers of migration in this context.
Especially relevant to understand change in Caracaraí is the role of the state. Research has particularly emphasized the active governmental role in promoting migration by opening agricultural settlements in Southern Roraima (Barbosa 1993; Mendes Nogueira et al. 2013). Whether willingly or not, non-migration policies5 can alter a country’s socio-economic structure and promote or halt migration indirectly (Vezzoli 2015: 31). Despite the limited, systematic research on the indirect influx of state intervention in migratory matters, a social transformation perspective allows to create strong evidences of migration drivers, including governmental actions (ibid). The rationale of military administrations to introduce the Amazonas region in the economic national structure or the emergence of environmental awareness are some examples. In Caracaraí governmental investment in the urban planning of the town stimulated spontaneous immigration of Northeastern and Amazonian entrepreneurs, and the strengthening of environmental policies and establishment of large extractive plantations disrupted the livelihood of extractive workers, triggering their immigration to Caracaraí. These cases illustrate that state intervention was among the drivers of mobility.
The social transformation perspective enables to better comprehend the complexity of social processes that transform livelihoods and influence mobility patterns. Thence, we analyze the influence of the institutional functions of the state, state-driven infrastructure networks and their subsequent impact on the economic structure, and migration patterns and changes in Caracaraí.
5 “Regulations that states define and enact to affect a wide range of societal aspects that do not
3. Methodology
This thesis combines the macro-level social history of Caracaraí and micro-level life stories of migrants, returnees and non-migrants. On the one hand, mapping the transformations and social changes of Caracaraí since the 1950s facilitates the comprehension of how profound changes, such as state encroachment or infrastructural improvements, are associated with mobility. This provides an understanding on how spheres that a priori might be unrelated to migration play a role on migration processes. On the other, the data collected through interviews with immigrants, returnees and non-migrants aims to identify the relation between migration decisions at the micro-level and macro-level societal changes. In fact, the collection of life stories allows to grasp migration expectations before arriving to Caracaraí, aspirations and obstacles in Caracaraí as well as the social transformation that the city experienced, which impacted on the population’s opportunities. This way, this thesis presents how macro-level structural opportunities and constraints during the 1950s-1990s period influenced the migration patterns of the town. Rather than obscuring the agency of individuals at the expense of the state, this thesis captures both the agency involved in mobility processes as well as the role of the state on people’s (migration) decisions.
To present how macro-level changes in Caracaraí have affected migration decisions, this research relies on secondary literature on the political, economic, technological and demographic history of Caracaraí, and explores the findings of 20 semi-structured interviews. 2 areas were targeted in the interviews:
• Prior migratory experience, motives to migrate, migration aspirations and expectations, migration decisions, and the situation of migrants in Caracaraí. • Inquiry about the social transformation experienced in the socio-economic
structure of Caracaraí, its demographic composition, organization of the population and the technological improvements of the town.
The interviews were conducted in Portuguese with the assistance of bilingual local assistants. They were coded following grounded theory (Glaser and Strauss 1967; Suddaby 2006) and CCM, constant comparison method (Boeije 2002). Grounded theory allows to analyze the construction of meaning from the experience of the interviewees and the CCM approach allows to explore the differences and commonalities of the
interviews. This way, the transformations experienced by the respondents can be connected through the use of codes and categories, comprehending the connection between them. The codes and categories used to explore the insights of the interviews follow the same two areas of the interviews mentioned above.
The absence of longitudinal datasets from population censuses hinders the verification of the mobility patterns gathered throughout the interviews, the exploration of migration volumes, and distribution and the occupation composition of the population in the municipality. Nevertheless, the data collected through the qualitative interviews is consistent with the secondary literature and provides a deep understanding of the migration dynamics of the town, and the changes at the political, economic, and technological-levels experienced in Caracaraí.
In this manner, the 20 semi-structured qualitative interviews capture mobility and immobility motives, reflections on the changes experienced by the town of Caracaraí, and the different life histories and trajectories of 21 individuals6. Among the interviewees, 14 were males and 7 were females; the youngest was 45 years old and the older 91; 14 individuals were internal immigrants from the Amazonas, Northeaster Brazilian states and Baixo Rio Branco, whereas 4 were returnees and 4 were non-migrants. Annex 1 provides additional information on the interviewees.
4. Roraima, a brief historical context of the region and its migration system
The state of Roraima, despite the presence of military and religious groups since the end of the 17th century, did not come under Portuguese control until the mid-18th century, when a military base started being built in 1775 and settlements were distributed along the ins and outs of current Roraima (Figure 1). The rationale to locate the settlements in the Northern area of the state of Roraima reflects the need (i) to protect the Portuguese frontiers from the invasion of foreign powers and (ii) to create an economic structure able to attract migrants.
Figure 1. Settlements in current Roraima state in the 1770s
Source: Barbosa 1993: 127
Considering the more fertile savanna-style landscape in Northern Roraima (Figure 2) that favors agricultural work and cattle farming, cattle farms were established there to provide for Southerner Brazilian states. Consequently, in the 1780s the first cattle farms, known as National Farms (Fazendas Nacionais), were developed at the end of the 18th century (Barbosa 1993).
Figure 2: Distribution of field types
Source: Furley and Mougeot 1994: 16
In order to increase the attractiveness of the Amazonas and promote the settlement of migrants in the territory, Marquis de Pombal established: (i) the prohibition of enslaving indigenous people7, (ii) the promotion of agricultural development by favoring the settlement of Azorean migrants and couples from African colonies, and (iii) the establishment of local administrative structures (Magalhães 2008). Despite the enslavement of indigenous population was forbidden in 1750, the colonial policies forced indigenous groups to settle in cattle farms and hamlets, and work in slavery-like conditions. This resulted in several revolts8, in the abandonment of the farms at the very end of the 18th century, and in an exodus of the indigenous groups to Suriname and Guyana (Hemming 1994; Barbosa 1993). The international migration flows from the Azores and the African colonies, together with the cross-border migration patterns illustrate that peripheral rural frontier areas are not only characterized by intra-state circular migration. This challenges the limited migration patterns expected for peripheral
7The indigenous population is central to the history of Roraima. However, this thesis does not
put the spotlight on this segment of the population. Rather, how change in the societal organization has affected the socio-economic structure and migration dynamics in Caracaraí as a whole is explored.
8 Examples include the 1781 revolt between Sapara Indians and the military, as well as the Praia
do Sangue revolt in 1798 along the margins of Rio Branco between the military and the Paravilhana and Wapixana Indians (Barbosa 1993).
societies and shows that traditional peripheral communities are not limited to local migratory systems.
The French invasion of Portugal in 1807, together with local pressures for independence in Brazil affected negatively the organization of colonial settlements far from the South of Brazil that presented larger human concentrations. However, cattle farms created by the military and northeastern migrants contributed to the slight population increase since the 1820s, even though the seasonal nature of these businesses hindered a continuous settlement in the region. The Fazendas Nacionais perished at the beginning of the 20th century, after private ranchers occupied and divided among themselves the lands of the national fazendas. They also obtained the title to property of these lands, alleging they were unoccupied and established a ‘godfather’ system, in which protection, education and goods were provided to workers, particularly indigenous people, in exchange of unpaid domestic services (Hemming 1994). This illustrates a process of privatization in Roraima already in the late 19th century. Nonetheless, this process was restricted to a small area, to the northeast of Boa Vista, the capital city. This first introduction of capitalism did not affect the region as a whole and did not change the traditional structure of Roraima. Considering that the quality of the soil was low and the need of fertilizers high, the lower part of Rio Branco was characterized by distinct economic activities to farming. Indeed, Baixo Rio Branco is characterized by the predominance of vegetable extractivism. In this regard, the extraction of Brazilian nuts and rubber, and the fishing industry were more developed occupational fields in the mid- and lower areas of the river (Hemming 1994) (Interview 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 13 and 15).
Caracaraí, located in central Roraima, was established in 1900 given its privileged location on the Rio Branco that made it a strategic economic and maritime site. It served as the sole transportation option for both cargo and people until BR-174 was constructed in 19769 (Barbosa 1993), and it remained the only official urban center in Roraima other than the capital, Boa Vista up until 1985 (Mendes Nogueira et al. 2013). In fact, the increasing demand of beef on the part of Manaus with the growth of the rubber industry from 1880s to 1910s, implied the necessity to improve the infrastructure connecting both territories. The transportation of goods from Manaus to Boa Vista took approximately 3 months. For this, during the rubber boom attempts to clean 815km of forest trail were
conducted, with no success. The fact that the road was not passable and the habit to use Rio Branco for the transportation of goods meant increasing economic growth for Caracaraí and the arrival of traders (Interview 2, 4, 6, 12, 16).
Caracaraí presents, then, a convergence point between Northern and Southern Roraima. The local population, although dependent on extractive activities due to the unsuitability of land for agriculture and cattle farming, was also subjected to market demands for beef meat. This implied the presence of merchants and more complex trade networks than in Baixo Rio Branco. In this manner, the structure of the town presents a heterogeneous population and shows that rural frontier towns, even in their pioneering stages, are not entirely composed by small-scale peasants and extractive workers, but rather involvement in incipient capitalist activities, such as assistance in the (un)loading, is also possible. Internal struggles over power within local governments, together with the production of better quality and cheaper rubber in British and Dutch colonies favored the gradual decline of the rubber market in the 1920s (Magalhães 2008). Such decline impacted, particularly livestock farming in the territory of Rio Branco (Figure 3) (Melo et al. 2008). Migration flows to the territory also declined, however, cattle farmers and traders brought workers from the rubber plantations to work in the livestock farming as cheap labor. Migrants were allocated in the national cattle farms as tenants, and they were responsible either for the cattle ranching, or for the slaughter of cattle and dairy products. These flows were referred in the Rubber Defense Plan in 1912, nonetheless the collapse of the rubber industry implied the gradual breakdown of the cattle farms in Rio Branco (Magalhães 2008). We can hypothesize that during the economic bust of rubber the river-based commerce was negatively affected, which may have led to a decrease on (un)loading activities, migration flows and to a greater dependence on extractivism in Caracaraí.
Figure 3: Growth in cattle numbers since the late 19th century
Source: Hemming 1994: 50
During the era of Getulio Vargas, in the 1930-1945 period, the state opened new frontiers to enable the occupation of the interior of Brazil, as well as established industrialization policies to favor the urbanization of the cities. These national policies also targeted the Amazonas, and particularly the Rio Branco region. Indeed, several agencies and institution, such as the Rubber Credit Bank (later on Amazon Credit Bank) or the Amazonian Economic Enhancement Agency, were established to integrate the Amazon with the rest of the country. In and October 1940 speech, Vargas declared a plan to promote human settlement and fight over the general idea about the Amazon as an isolated and deserted land. The ‘Marcha para Oeste’ initiative was launched in 1941, and the original idea was to implement the research of rubber producer plants and promote the fishing industry and the settlement of the indigenous population in the Amazonas region. In this manner, among other actions, the national farm of the Amazonas was installed in 1941 in the left bank of the river Salimoes in Boa Vista to supply rubber workers (Magalhães 2008).
Further actions on the part of Vargas’ state to have a more direct and effective control over the Amazonas region led to the creation of three federal territories in 1943: Amapa, Guapore (current Rondonia) and Rio Branco (current Roraima) (Santos 2010; Magalhães
2008). The establishment of these federal territories arose from the need to promote the socio-economic development of the territory and solve the low population density in specific frontier areas. The implementation of the Federal Territory implied the first attempts to permanently occupy the region through directed migration actions. This encouraged the permanent settlement of “peasants from the economic depressed areas of Northeast Brazil” (Diniz and Lacerda 2014), particularly from Maranhão. Governmental actions subsidizing migration, together with the reliance of the territory on the federal budget (Barros 1998) might explain the positive image that immigrants had about the Territory (I1).
Furthermore, the rationales to promote economic development in the region, also triggered the need to strengthen local administrative structures. Thence, Caracaraí became the seat of the municipality of Caracaraí in 1950, leading to the growth of a small public sector (I14). The size and importance of the public administration was minimal and mostly related to the river-based commerce, given that public employee’s contracts were temporary and stopped during the dry season due to a decrease on the amount of work (I14). In fact, Caracaraí was a small village composed by approximately 13 households in the 1940s and 17, 18 houses in the early 1960s, with no public services apart from a public school, a small health public center, and a telegrapher (Figure 4) (I2, 14, 15). Despite the limited public services, these, together with the growth of the town, attracted migrants from Bem Querer10, a close-by hamlet (I4, I6).
10 Bem Querer is a settlement located to 16km north to Caracaraí by the rapids of Rio Branco,
which was also tied to commerce and supportive services to the (un)loading of cattle and gods. The rapids of Bem Querer hinder the navigation of laden boats, consequently the boats would stop there unload the cattle/goods to avoid the rapids and load them again at Caracaraí. Given the difficult terrain and the constant flooding (I4, I6), the hamlet served as a resting and service point for the longshoreman. Caracaraí is, instead, at a higher altitude, which favors the passage of laden ships, the storage of products and the keeping of cattle (I4, I6). This way, the presence of traders, cattle owners, and cattle caretakers promoted the development of the town, considering that the cattle would rest in farmyards for 10-20 days before continuing on the journey to Manaus (I6).
Figure 4: Caracaraí prior to the 1970s
Source: Unknow. Provided by Professor Petronio in Caracaraí, Brazil
The centrally-planned state policies carried out in these territories particularly affected Caracaraí starting in the mid- 1960s, which promoted migration flows into the town.
5. Caracaraí from the 1950s to the mid-1960s: A river-based economy and a circumscribed migratory system
Historically, the town’s economy has been based on river-based commerce, the extraction of local products, such as balata or Brazilian nuts, and on the fur trade. Consequently, before governmental-led developments, Caracaraí appealed mostly to water transport workers, traders and merchants, executives, and pioneer migrant farmers headed for the opening of forest exploitations for small-scale farming. This way, the migratory system of the town was characterized by dynamic, intermittent migration between Caracaraí and small settlements along the river, and longer-distance immigration of Northeasterners and Amazonians looking for better life conditions. These show that the immigration patterns were linked to local and regional systems and that most mobility was occasional and circumscribed to the river-based commerce. The river-based commerce of Rio Branco during the 1950s-1960s period illustrates two important alterations:
- the first introduction of capitalist industries and wage employments in Caracaraí, which attracted temporary skilled migrants;
- the increasing trade networks between extractive workers and merchants, which triggered mobility from small communities along the Rio Branco.
5.1. Introduction of capitalist industries and wage employment in Caracaraí
The lack of reliable infrastructure networks until the mid-1980s and the absence of local general stores generated an interdependence with the transportation of goods -e.g. beer, sodas, sugar, coffee, beans and other edibles (I2, I4)- coming from Manaus, and illustrates that Caracaraí was on the way to integrating into an economic frontier (Neiva 1949; Martins 1996). The fact that individuals in Bem Querer and Caracaraí collected woods, Brazilian nuts or balata to exchange them with the crew of the steamer boats for sugar and other goods (I4, I6) illustrates the absence of money in some instances, which shows that the town was not yet fully integrated into a capitalist system. Moreover, the transportation of goods and cattle attracted small traders based along the Rio Branco, who were engaged in the exchange of products through canoe and settled in Caracaraí to work as traders, owing to increasing employment opportunities in town (I2). This predicts mobility patterns between Caracaraí and smaller settlements across the river, as well as the drawing power of Caracaraí as a migration destination for small traders.
Apart from transporting edible goods, the dependence of Roraima on Manaus also extended to construction materials and fossil fuels, predominantly cement, oil or gas. This attracted the development of large companies’ warehouses in Caracaraí. Example of this are the presence of Paulo Pereira -a transportation company-, Petrobras -a multinational corporation in the petroleum industry-, which arrived in 1962 (I2, I4, I10), as well as the establishment of Antarctica -a beverage distribution company-, Fogas -a gas company present in the Northwestern Amazonas region- and Portobras during the mid-1960s and early-1970s (I15). Similarly to the transportation of cows, these companies attracted small traders settled along the Rio Branco, as well as merchants from Boa Vista and Manaus, who decided to settle in Caracaraí and started distributing goods to the population (I15). The lack of census records in Caracaraí hinders an analysis of the occupation of the population and an understanding of how the population was distributed. Nevertheless, the available records of the public administration reveal that no more than 30 individuals worked in the sector from 1950 to the early-1970s (Figure 5).
Source: Folha de pagamento do pessoal. Prefeitura municipal de Caracaraí. Territorio Federal do Rio Branco, Terrritorio Federal de Roraima, and Estado de Roraima, de 1950 a 1980.
The workload of the public sector increased during the rainy season, presumably due to the recruitment of additional personnel for the (un)loading of goods. The sharp drop in 1960 rainy season may be due to the deployment of the above-mentioned multinational companies who established warehouses for the storage of fuel fossils and they themselves hired workers. In addition, the increase on public workers during the dry seasons starting in the mid-1960s might be explained due to the establishment of the construction companies, e.g. Irmãos Prata in 1962 (I10), and the accumulation of taxes for circulation of goods and services after the establishment of Petrobras in the mid-1960s11.
Apart from influencing the public administration of Caracaraí, the establishment of these enterprises illustrates that the situation was more nuanced than a pre-capitalist, post-capitalist cleavage, and shows that rural frontier settlements are not homogenous societies composed only by agricultural and extractive peasants. Rather, the strategic location and incipient transportation network of Caracaraí attracted (un)loading businesses and utility companies.
Despite the settlement of these businesses during the 1960s, these companies brought their own workers (I10, I15), limiting the employment opportunities of the local population (I10, I15). Indeed, Interviewee 10 states that: “There were no jobs, we had to
11 The introduction of these companies in Caracaraí is related to state-driven urban planing
processes during the 1970s, which led to more complex mobility patterns and a restructuring of
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980
look for a job somewhere else” and Interviewee 4: “There were a lot of jobless people”. This suggests that the companies brought dockworkers from Manaus or Boa Vista, exemplifying that short-term, circular (skilled) migration was part of the mobility dynamics of Caracaraí during the 1960s. This resulted in the persistent dependence of a large segment of the population in extractive activities, for whom (un)loading cattle and goods was a supplementary activity (I6). The livelihood of extractive workers was also dependent on the river-based economy, given that they traded their merchandise with merchants.
In this way, the local population and the indigenous people, although they worked in the (un)loading of products and assisted taking care of cattle (I6), they needed to complement these jobs with extractive activities, considering also that there was a demand for Brazilian chestnuts, balata, rubber and the skin of animals among the traders (I3, I6, I10, I15). This shows a segmentation of the labor market: Caracaraí’s residents needed to rely on complementary, informal job activities characterized by exchange networks and an unstable salary (I6) based on the presence of merchants due to the importance of Rio Branco, whereas dockworkers hired by the multinationals had a more stable, formal employment. Consequently, the establishment of these businesses did not alter the livelihood of the town’s residents, and rather those, particularly the indigenous population, assisting in the (un)loading of the goods were performing heavy labor individually. Yet, the presence of merchants and commercial groups did imply a partial restructuring of the town’s economy from small-scale extractive activities to an organization of trade networks, introduction of payments, greater economic regional connectivity between Roraima and Manaus and a more effective access of goods for the local population.
5.2. The attractiveness of Rio Branco, merchants and extractive workers
Caracaraienses, migrants living in Caracaraí as well as residents in Bem Querer were, thence, moonlighters involved in the (un)loading of goods and on the extraction of balata, Brazilian nuts and rubber12, as well as on the hunting and skin of animals, such as jaguar, otter, manatee, and marajacá cat (I2, I4, I6). According to Interviewee 5, there were 700 families involved in the extraction of these products in the forest, and they would exchange these products to acquire edibles transported by the boats (I6). These extractive activities present a good example to explore simple forms of specialization of labor in town. In fact, among the interviewees we find that the traders used to be migrants coming from Amazonas or the Northeast, who either had a better economic situation and could finance the workers to extract these products or after saving and thanks to connections with other traders, settled in Caracaraí and became merchants (I2, I13, I15).
The extractive workers, on the other hand, were mainly from Caracaraí, although migrants with poor economic conditions were also involved in these activities (I5). Interviewee 5 worked extracting rubber and Brazilian nuts along the Rio Branco, where they would stay for 90 days before coming to Caracaraí to sell their commodities. He indicates that they had regatons, i.e. employers, who would finance the boats. This is in line with the experience of Interviewee 15: he, as a trader, would have a workforce of 20-30 individuals extracting these products and would provide them with foodstuff, such as rice, beans, sugar and coffee. The workers received their payment after the sale of the products, which indicates that the presence of traders altered the barter economy and introduced incomes for extractive workers.
The presence of merchants, the larger fish market and the port in Caracaraí also attracted small fishermen settled in the banks of Rio Branco, particularly from Vila do Incra, current Rorainopolis (I7). Similarly to the extractive workers, the anglers would settle in Caracaraí for a few days, sell their goods and return, which illustrates circular mobility patterns between the town and hamlets along the river.
12 Even if garimpo activities were mostly conducted in Surucucu and Tepequem, in Northwestern
Roraima, and, therefore, mining was not an important economic activity in Caracaraí, rubber tappers made bags for the garimpeiros (I4). In fact, the presence of garimpeiros in the town was
Artisanal fishing and extractive activities further illustrate that the division of economies in pre- and post-capitalist systems is artificial. The economic activities of rural peripheral frontier towns, which are often considered pre-capitalist societies, follow the logic and demand of international markets. The buying and selling of extractive products show not only a marketization of these products, but also a labor market segmentation. Subsequently, although accumulation and privatization of commodities was not a characteristic of the economic structure of Caracaraí, we observe an incipient capitalist structure and the need to treat such theoretical cleavage with caution.
The introduction of more complex trade networks partially altered the traditional, pre-existing economic activities. This is because the Caracaraiense used to exchange their products with the steamboats crew (I4, I6), rather than buying and selling them to migrant traders. Therefore, the presence of merchants in town and the demand of international markets slightly alleviated the precariousness of extractive workers through the introduction of payments and the provision of goods prior to the selling.
6. Migration diversification and the encroachment of the state from the mid-1960s to the 1990s
Caracaraí experienced major political transformations during the Brazilian military administrations (1964-1985), when the state expanded its presence through bureaucratic functions and provision of infrastructure networks to control its territory in the Amazonas region. Simultaneously, immigration diversified attracting migrants from a broader geographical scope and entering the new occupations emerged in the construction and hospitality sectors in the town. Figure 613 presents an approximate representation of the immigration year and the occupational field of the immigrants arriving at Caracaraí, which shows the expansion of the local economy during the 1970s and the decline in attractiveness of extractivism.
13 The graph relies on the data collected during the interviews. While not valid for statistical
Figure 6. Distribution of immigrants according to their occupational field
To analyze the social transformations occurring in Caracaraí and their impact on the mobility patterns of the town, the 1960s-1980s timeframe is divided in 2 aspects of change with migration effects:
- Mid-to-late 1960s-1970s, a period characterized by the establishment of regional and multinational construction companies, when we observe the inflow of skilled migrants and the emergence of new socio-economic models;
- 1980s-1990s, a period associated with the expansion of the state as provider of services, when we observe rural-urban migration from settlements along the river and inflows of skilled public workers.
6.1. State-led infrastructure, construction companies and economic diversification
By the late 1960s and particularly during the 1970s, Caracaraí experienced changes in terms of infrastructure developments. The importance of Caracaraí as a maritime point, the lack of infrastructure networks, and the rationale of the military administrations to integrate Roraima in the national economic system led to governmental attempts to develop the area. For this, a road linking the state of Roraima with Manaus was constructed and construction companies, responsible for the urban planning of Caracaraí,
0 1 2 3 4 5 1950-1959 1960-1969 1970-1979 1980-1989 1990-1999
Extractivism Construction and utility companies
Hospitality sector Artisanal fishing
were established in town. Consequently, the economy of the town, which was grounded on extractive activities and on the (un)loading of goods, experienced reverberations as income-generating opportunities arose.
6.1.1. The establishment of construction companies
Across the Amazonas region, the military administrations expanded the infrastructure and road access, and opened agricultural settlements in Southern Roraima to promote the settlement of migrants (Barbosa 1993b). In Caracaraí, first, the military, in particular BEC 6th, started opening the road from Caracaraí to Boa Vista (BR 174) in 1964 (I10). Apart from servicemen, civilians were also involved in the manual opening, fundamentally using axe and sickle (I4, I9, I10). Among the military there were high-skilled military officers, trained as engineers, who would spend 2 to 3 years in Caracaraí (I10).
Once soldiers had cleaned the forest, multinational companies, such as Maró Cleite and Irmãos Prata, arrived in Caracaraí in the mid-to-late 1960s to start opening the actual road. Even though the majority of the workers were skilled migrants with a formal contract that knew how to use heavy machinery, Irmãos Prata also hired people already settled in Caracaraí. This benefited the local population, who was able to secure an income-generating employment. An example of this is Interviewee 13, who worked as a topographer on the opening of BR 174, or interviewee 4, who was a cook for the construction crew. This shows a need for income-generating employments, given that the introduction of governmental development projects led to the presence of waged workers and spontaneous migrants looking for a job to clean the forest and secure an income. This interviewee summarized these instances:
“They came for the money; it was so difficult at the time. A work, a real employment was very difficult to get, and they could more easily have a gain with
this work” (I9)14.
Moreover, the government established public tenders to promote the structure of the town. Among the infrastructure developments conducted we find: i) a 2-years contract for Codraza, which was in charge of improvements in the structure of the port; ii) the
14 I: É porque eles vinham através do dinheiro mesmo, que era muito difícil na época né, um
trabalho, um emprego mesmo era muito difícil e eles conseguiam com mais facilidade ter um ganho com esse trabalho (I9).
construction and improvement of road BR 174 and BR 210 by Camargo Correia, Paraná Panema, Andrade Gutierrez and Irmãos Prata; and iii) the construction and pavements of the streets, sewerage system and the first advancement on the water supply and provision of street lighting by Irmãos Prata (I10, I11, I15).
These construction works lasted for an average time of 3 to 5 years, meaning that by the early 1980s the infrastructure developments were already finished. They triggered big changes in the structure of the town, considering that before their establishment Caracaraí was “all bush” (Figure 4) (I4, I3, I10, I11, I15). In this manner, the town of Caracaraí was enlarged, given that among the infrastructure works conducted the old part of town was improved and a new section of town constructed from scratch (I11). After the construction of the basic infrastructure of the streets, new companies arrived during the mid, late-1970s to provide electricity and water supply to the town. Some examples include: CAER -water and sewage company- and Intec -electric supply system company. These companies stayed for an average of 2-3 years.
These transformations are associated with greater immigration flows, in particular: skilled internal migration from Northeastern and Southern Brazil (I11 and I19), and internal migration of Northeastern and Amazonian entrepreneurs (I12, I15 and I19). The former came employed by the businesses and knew how to use heavy machinery, whereas the latter aimed to improve their lifestyle and secure a job.
According to Interview 15 and 14, the establishment of these companies attracted, during the 1970s, around 5000 workers to Caracaraí. Some of these migrants came with a formal contract together with the companies, while other were attracted due to the working opportunities or came to provide a temporary service to the businesses -e.g. the provision of machinery. In this aspect we find discrepancies: some interviews state that the majority of the migrants already had a position within the companies (I11), whereas Interviewee 19 affirms that, mainly, individuals from Pará came with the enterprises and most of the immigrants arrived spontaneously looking for a working position. In one way or another, the motives for migration and destination choice seems to be linked to the presence of the construction companies and the state-led urban planning process.
Many of these workers brought their families, which meant that the women looked for domestic work in town (I18). However, their settlement in Caracaraí was seasonal and the vast majority left or were transferred once the construction of the infrastructure of the
town was finished in the early-to-mid 1980s (I11, I12, I17). This way, Interviewee 11 makes a distinction between the labor migrants that came with a formal contract and those that arrived in Caracaraí spontaneously:
“After the construction, there were very few people. Many went away, right? Because they were hired by the companies, so they left with them. Since I came alone, without a contract, and I really liked it here, I stayed, like many others” (I11)15.
Indeed, it seems that those with a temporary contract were more prone to stay in the town (I10), given that they did not have a permanent employment in subsequent projects and that everybody expected the town to grow and offer opportunities (I4). The servicemen involved in the opening of the roads also left after the job was finished in 2000-2001, their temporary military base ceased to exist, and the most of the soldiers were transferred to the Waimiri Atori indigenous reserve in the interior of Caracarai, or to Mucajai’s and Boa Vista’s bases.
6.1.2. Local economic expansion
The presence of the construction businesses furthered the willingness of spontaneous migrants to settle in Caracaraí. This is because they expected the town to grow economically and socially (I12, I19). Thence, apart from the income-generating opportunities in construction sites, Caracaraí saw the emergence of small local stores and the hospitality sector.
The inflow of migrants to the town involved the need to provide the workers and their families with small local stores, snack bars and lodgings, which attracted entrepreneur Northeastern and Amazonian migrants (I6, I9, I11, I12). In fact, the majority of the people opening a business were immigrants, particularly from Goiás, Maranhão and Ceará. Interviewee 12 is a good example to illustrate this: She rented an inn in 1976 and decided to build a hotel of her own in the same year16. Interviewee 19 also illustrates this
15 I: No tempo da construção eles vieram, mas ficou muita pouca gente, porque eles cada um
vieram contratados pelas empresas, né. Como eu vim só que eu na época eu gostei e fiquei, como muitos outros (I11).
