THE RURAL ZONE AND THE MUNICIPALITY

The importance of rural development

Abstract

The Brazilian rural zone is marked by transformations in different sectors, mainly after the 1960s, with the insertion of developmental policies. The changes in rural areas brought both positive and negative impacts, occurring in different stages. Initially, they were driven by the capitalist system, aiming at rapid and expansionist economic growth, with negative consequences, due to the lack of planning for this phenomenon. In opposition to this, the small communities of the municipalities looked for new ways to maintain themselves and to develop in the field, using the knowledge about the management of the land and the domain of its environment, as guardians of the culture and tradition of the ancestors, even facing several problems, such as the process of deterritorialization. In this perspective, this article aims to study the transformations in the rural space of the municipality of Montes Claros - MG and in the rural community of Pedra Preta, which has been closely following these transformations, and representing a reality experienced by most communities in the municipality. As a methodology, fieldwork was carried out with the objective of establishing informal conversations and observation of the residents' daily lives. The interviews were semi-structured in a qualitative research format, with the aim of collecting information in different spheres, from social, historical, cultural, economic and environmental issues. Although the results reveal a dynamic and pluriactive rural environment in the community, there are challenges and reconfigurations that demand a special look to better develop the rural space in the community.