Amelia Isabelle, International Development and Globalization, 4th year
Country of fieldwork: Brazil
Canadian NGO: Floresta Viva and ASMOBAN
Local NGO: Floresta Viva and ASMOBAN
A month into my internship in Brazil, I’ve noticed an interest trend with regards to the socio-economic diversity of the town I am staying in. Serra Grande is a 6,000 person town located on the North-East coast of Brazil. This town, like so many others located in scenic and temperate regions, is seeing an increase in gentrification and tourism and overall, an uptick in population growth. In the last five years, the population has doubled in size.
Up until the 1940, Serra Grande was initially inhabited by “nativos”, the Indigenous peoples to Brazil. The fertility of the land, popular for cacao plantations, drew in many farmers. Then, in the late 1990s to early 2000s, a campaign to open the Serra do Conduru State Park commenced. As a result, many families who lived in the Park’s area were displaced and settled in Serra Grande. The first neighbourhood created in Serra Grande is called Bairro Novo, which is where I am staying for the duration of my internship. This neighbourhood is made predominately of Black Brazilians and Afro-Indigenous Brazilians.
A further increase in population occurred following the COVID-19 pandemic. These individuals are predominantly white individuals from middle- to high- income backgrounds who have moved only in the fast five years from major cities like Sao Paulo or Rio De Janeiro to escape the bustling cities and move to more calm and scenic environments.
Moreover, the socio-economical makeup of the town in divided geographically, with the majority of the townspeople - the marginalized and low-income families - living on the top of a large hill with a smaller population of higher income individuals living right next to the beach, at the bottom the hill.
In response to this change in demographics, there has also been a shift in the capitalist development of the town’s infrastructure and goods and services available in town. For example, there has been an increase in ‘emporiums’, which are stores that sell naturopathic goods and health and wellness foods. Many of whose products are priced unfairly for individuals with lower incomes. This creates an unequal dynamic between the working class (i.e. those who have lived in Serra Grande for decades) and those who are purchasing the goods (i.e.: the wealthy newly arrived individuals).
This complicated and unfair dynamic is something that many social organizations in town, like ASMOBAN - the NGO I am volunteering with - is attempting to address. One way in which the gap is attempting to be bridged is through the creation of the Bairro Novo ‘Fairinha’ (in English it can be translated to ‘little fair’). The fair attempts to bring together the residents of Bairro Novo with their fellow residents of Serra Grande, whether they be newcomers, or long-term citizens. While the unequal relationship persists between the vendors and the buyers, ASMOBAN still continues to advertise and encourage community tourism in this way.
Another example of ASMOBAN’s work to bridge the gap is with the development of a walking path with the intention of connecting various parts of town together. Again, as with the ‘Fairinha’, the trail is still in development and there is still much work to be done, but there is hope among ASMOBAN’s members that it will make a different in the ever changing relationship of Serra Grande.