Economia solidária e etnodesenvolvimento de povos e comunidades tradicionais: expressões e iniciativas nas comunidade indígena Eleóterios do Catu no Rio Grande do Norte

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the productive activities of the Eleotérios do Catu indigenous community, located between the municipalities of Canguaretama and Goianinha, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, considering the conceptual intersections and principles of the solidarity economy and Ethnodevelopment oriented to traditional peoples and communities. To this end, a bibliographical research was carried out to deepen these analytical categories based on authors and works that are references in the conceptualized themes, in addition to a documentary survey and a review of the academic production, carried out in the UFRN repository, with works prepared in the last five years, which report socioeconomic initiatives identified in the Eleotérios do Catu community. It is assumed that Traditional Peoples and Communities are ethnically diverse groups that develop socioeconomic alternatives for survival that coexist with the preservation of the environment in which they live and the maintenance of their cultural values, so that these forms of resistance manifest values and principles of a solidarity economy as one of the possible strategies for promoting Ethnodevelopment. Furthermore, the recognition of these Ethnodevelopment initiatives promoted by traditional peoples and communities, which are antagonistic to the capitalist development model, have enabled the solidarity economy to recover its ancestral roots in the historical trajectory of humanity and to reinvent itself as a future possibility, under construction, incorporating ethnic diversity and wealth as a strategy for the well-being of all. As a result of the study, it is clear that the Eleotérios do Catu indigenous community, while guiding its socioeconomic initiatives, especially family farming, crafts and ethnotourism, by the principles and values of the solidarity economy and Ethnodevelopment, is also strengthening its process of self-recognition as an indigenous people, valuing its ancestral knowledge and practices. Although there are factors that enhance a strategic perspective of Ethnodevelopment, some challenges can hinder this process or prevent it from extending to all members of the community, such as: the threat of sugarcane agribusiness that puts pressure on the territory, low adherence to community organization, low professional qualifications, and the absence of systematic political education that strengthens critical awareness of the conflicts they experience in their daily lives.