BETWEEN THE PLEASURE PERIPHERY AND THE SACRIFICE ZONE: TOURISM AS AN ARGUMENT IN THE ARENA OF A SOCIOENVIRONMENTAL CONFLICT ON THE COAST OF PARANÁ

ABSTRACT:

Coastal zones have privileged or unique locations, featuring a spatial monopoly of certain activities, such as industrial-port and tourism. Nevertheless, the spatial practices inherent in this process, can generate socio-environmental conflicts. This is what has been happening in Pontal do Paraná (Paraná), where the process of industrial-port territorialization has been in conflict with other uses, such as tourism. In a preliminary research it was found that tourism was used by the social actors as an argumentative strategy to support their discourses and interests. This was the guiding thread of the present research, that aims to identify and categorize the discourse of the social actors involved in the socio-environmental conflict triggered by the industrial-port expansion, with emphasis on tourism. The information collected was analyzed using Discursive Textual Analysis (ATD), which revealed the existence of four discourses, two in favor of industrial-port territorialization, one against and one categorized as the “middle way”. These groups, with the exception of traditional communities, use tourism as a legitimizing argument for their positions and discourses. In general, it appears that there is a dispute between a sacrifice zone and the continuity of a “periphery of pleasure”.

KEYWORDS:
Tourism; Industrial-port territorialization; Environmental conflict, Pontal do Paraná