Rural workers in São Paulo fields: Mutilated Stories

Abstract:

For almost half a century, I have been studying the social reality of rural workers in the state of São Paulo. Numerous studies have been carried out with workers in sugarcane, coffee, and orange groves. The vast majority were migrants, coming from Vale do Jequitinhonha/MG and northeast of Brazil, a fact that expanded my research to these locations. Currently, the state of São Paulo is witnessing the prevalence of Agriculture 4.0, characterized by the dominance of machines and information technologies (IT), resulting in the erasure of the traces of these workers. Thus, I intend is to analyze the process of historical amnesia that arises from this, through the lenses of Sayad and other authors in two periods. The first one refers to the decimation of indigenous peoples at the beginning of the 20th century in several regions of the state and in the country, the second one is about the erasure of the current history/memory of rural workers. The methodology of research is based on written sources and oral interviews.

Keywords:
historical amnesia; spoliation; rural workers; São Paulo