Guiados por mares e peixes: Memória social, inovação tecnológica e o processo de fragmentação na pequena pesca comercial simples em duas comunidades pesqueiras no Rio Grande do Norte

Abstract

This work aims to understand the impact of new technologies incorporated in fishery production in Barra do Cunhaú and Baía Formosa in the northeastern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte, from the standpoint of fishermen and members of their communities regarding the impact of social changes in the current context of modernization. In this study, I attempt to analyze "the way of life" through the qualitative method supported by ethnography, with reference to the social memory of the fishermen and their communities as well as their daily social practices in light of the social changes which have occured within the area of fishery production, and how these engender tensions and conflicts in relation to production and daily practices. These tensions can be attributed to urban restructuring due to the growth of tourism in the region and the incorporation of new technologies in the daily life of these coastal communities. From this standpoint, the transformation of the way of life peculiar to those in a process of modernization, affected the legitimacy of the social construct of honor connected with fishing. What stands out is the fragmentation of the fishing craft as a job, and as a result, the development of the current situation of social vulnerability caused by precarious working conditions which are in opposition to the development of the work technique whose interest is the pursuit of profit - economic rationality, a characteristic of modern urban industrial societies.